Feb 19, 2003 07:02 PM
2638 Views
(Updated Feb 19, 2003 07:08 PM)
Well.. Good things first
i had evaluated many mobile phone options including GSM offers, CDMA etc and finally found that the Reliance Indiamobile is a real good value for money. Especially considering the following factors:
all local calls at 40 paise per minute to any phone
all calls within the circle (read State in most cases)to any number is a local call @ 40 paise/min. Thus a call from Mumbai to nagpur or Chennai to kanyakumari is just a local call at 40 paise/min
STD from any Reliance mobile to any other Reliance mobile at 40 paise/min ANYWHERE in INDIA
STD from Reliance to any other number anywhere in India (in other Circles/ States) ia at Rs 1.90 per minute (vs Rs.8.40 per minute by BSNL/MTNL from april or anywhere from Rs6 to 20 now; vs Rs 3/min for the cheapest STD offer from Airtel for mobile2mobile STD calls)
free handset
free SMS
free features like call forwarding, call waiting, CLIP, CLIR etc
free internet connectivity
always on internet at 155 kbps speed (as against 4-7 kbps on dialup)
etc etc...
Well they say 400 minutes per month are free... but it is more of how to account. You pay 21000 for 3 years which covers rentals (240 a month), call charges (160 a month for 400 mins)club fees (100 a month) and Reliance Club fees of Rs 3000 (onetime). Considering a free handset from LG/Samsung it is definitely a very very good deal.
Now the sour things....
i know of some agents who booked way back in Dec 2002 on the day of launch itself but still waiting for their handsets day after day, although they were promised the handsets by Jan 14th.
Call their Call centre (3033 3333) and ask for clarifications... you get some answers no doubts, but every time you get a standard answer that the database is not fully updated... we will get back to you.. etc etc. But nobody gets back. Everytime you ring them up again, restart from the beginning and end up with same answers.. Hopefully someday they may really get back with answers..
They advertise that handsets would be delivered First in First out basis. I had booked about 20 days back, but had to wait for another 2-3 weeks (as per the reply from their office about an hour back), but I know of a friend of mine who booked thru an agent yesterday but got the handset also yesterday itself. It is not sheer luck of my friend, but me not not knowing 'how to beat' the waiting game. So dont go by what they say even in black & white.
They also say that they would provide roaming facility (or near-roaming facility) in most parts of India (although as per the press reports, current mobile WLL service providers are not allowed to provide roaming). We need to wait and see whether this is really provided or struck by TRAI/ other authorities.
Go to any of their office for any query.. even simple ones... You would be horrified by the lack of respect to customers (and even agents.. )and lack of response but more bureaucratic processes of keeping people waiting endlessly. Well you need to know people to get your queries answered...
i wonder what would be the customer service once they have few million customers !!! ( I stopped expecting any !!!)
About reliability... too early to say. some of my friends who have been using so far have mixed response.. many services are yet to be activated.
But hopefully Ambanis would ensure that the services stabilise and promises fullfilled. After all, the Indiamobile is just a part of their major offerings in tele/info communications. Without a good success of this, the rest of the services acceptability would be an issue.
