Tata Indicom Photon+ is disappointing. Review on Tata Indicom Photon+

I was great fan of EV-DO technology and was attracted to go for Tata photon+ service. Before going for the annual rental package with Tata Indicom, I read the reviews online. They were all positive, compared to other operators. Then I borrowed the Tata Photon+ device from my friend and tested it one day. Speed was impressive 1 Mbps and the signal strength at my home was 98%

All these were positive and then went for the annual rental package Rs. 7, 800 with free device option and 1 GB download per month.

I mainly use it to work from home and also take conference calls for official purposes. I realized two draw backs. The bandwidth varies significantly throughout the day. During day time you may get 1Mbps, but evening(they call it peak hours), Yahoo home page loading takes a minute. The speed is less than 20 kbps. The YouTube page text loads but the video plug-in shows blank.

Last two months I am trying to get in touch with customer service. Technical person who came home for testing did not know the difference between Kilo Bits per second and Kilo Bytes per second.

As such Tata Photon+ service is not good for voice calls(like skype) as the upload speed is only 10% of download speed. Which means, if you are getting 300kbps download, you only have 30kbps for upload. I experienced callers receiving side hearing my voice break.

I finally went to Tata Indicom office for disconnection. Met Nodal Office Mr.Shyam Prasad who never responded back to my emails or calls. He assured to do something'shortly'.

Another point is that Tata Indicom does not have the network capacity for such bandwidth. They promise to erect towers(30 across) Bangalore in the coming months. They should temporarily shut down their service and sale of Tata Photon+ and only relaunch when they are ready.

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Update:

Tata Indicom has contacted me. I had requested for termination and refund of the amount. It is being processed.

If you are keen on broadband for voice calls like Skype, think twice. Under ideal conditions(good network and max speed), the EVDO technology is for DATA ONLY. You can enjoy watching YouTube videos and downloading huge files(like linux iso), but stay away if you want voice calls.

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Update on 24-Jun-2010

I had returned the Photon+ device end of May. Mr.Shyam Prasad(Nodal Officer) promised that refund will come in 15 days after device is returned. It is already a month after return. He neither returned the call nor responds to email. When I call their(Nodal officer) assistant picks up and even they don't get back with status.

I did not expect the this kind of service from them.

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Update on 8-July-2010

Tata Indicom Nodal Officer has not kept his/her promise again. They didn't get back in 7 working days. After reminder, below is the response. Really frustrating. When they do not have the network and also the technical team to fix the problem, minimum we expect is to keep their promises in service and termination. Very cheap behaviour. Just like roadside shop they to in small shops.

Dear Mr. Janardhan,

Thank you for writing to us atTata Tele Services Ltd!

We acknowledge receipt of your mail dated 8th July 2010.

With reference to your appended mail, we would like to inform you that your complaint is being investigated and Mr.Shyam Prasad will get in touch with you by tomorrow.

As a service provider, we firmly believe that the key to customer satisfaction is adding value to a relationship that is continual and long-lasting.

Should there be further clarifications, please feel free to get in touch with us at 9243199970.

Assuring you the best of our services at all times

Kind Regards,

Stella Thomas

Nodal Officer -KA From: Janardan Revuru [mailto:janardan.revuru@gmail.com]

Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 11:21 AM

To: Nodalofficer Karnataka

Subject: Re: FW: Confimation Mail

Hello,

I have not heard from you more than two weeks.

-Janardan

On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 6:37 PM, Nodalofficer Karnataka wrote:

Thank you for writing to us atTata Tele Services Ltd!

We acknowledge receipt of your mail dated 24th June 2010.

With reference to your appended mail and as per the telephonic conversation we had with you regarding the refund, we would like to inform you that your complaint is being investigated. We would revert to you on the same in 7 working days.