Nov 08, 2006 11:19 AM
6091 Views
Networks used: Hutch prepaid (Chennai and Bangalore), Hutch postpaid (Chennai)
Plans used: Talk Roam 299 postpaid(< 1 month), 777 prepaid in Bangalore (2 months), Basic prepaid in Chennai (paid 999 initially, used for 4 months)
Coverage: Hutch network is mostly city specific, you can simply forget about getting a signal about 20-30 kms outside the city. One time I was travelling to Bangalore from Chennai by train, I lost the signal like 1/2 hour from Central and did'nt get a Hutch signal till I almost reached Bangalore City Junction in roaming. Believe me, there was no signal at Cantonment station, where I could see all other Bangalore providers in the available networks. Am curious, when I could get a signal in ITPL, Marathahalli, Billekhalli why not Cantonment ? :-/
Billing and Customer Service: Here comes the worst part. I took a Talk Roam 299 connection in Chennai and had a nightmarish experience with their address verification and billing policies. I had specifically asked whether I would need to be present at the time of address verification or my parents who reside there can verify my presence and they did say 'Yes, my parents could verify'. A bloke did come for address verification, even saw my original passport, ration card everything, told my dad it will be verified. What happens next ? the address verification still failed. And on top of all that I receive a bill of 600 odd bucks (excluding 299 ofcourse) for just 130 mins of calls in roaming (in Talk Roam plan).
On the other hand, prepaid billing was pretty straightforward. I was billed as per the rates published. Infact I feel Bangalore Hutch has one advantage of gettting notified of the cost/call, balance which was'nt available in my Chennai Hutch connection. In a prepaid connection, you have to be careful about 2 things: Roaming charges and Recharging.
You pay about Rs. 4 odd/min for both incoming and outgoing and Rs. 3 per SMS. So make sure you set 'Do not Disturb' for all those junk ad text messages in Chennai Hutch connections. I have'nt experienced junk text messages in a Bangalore 9986 series number. The only messages you get are the 'Rs 120 charge' when your balance is low. I think that was acceptable.
One main disadvantage in taking the 777 prepaid is you can't use Friends and Family in this plan. If you add F&F numbers, rather than deducting minutes from the H2Local minutes given to you initially it would rather deduct from the money balance you have.
Recommendations: By now you should have concluded, I would never recommend Hutch postpaid. Infact I would highly discourage you from taking a Hutch postpaid connection. As for Hutch prepaid, I would recommend only for people who use SMS a lot, call local mobiles predominantly (with less call volume - thats the reason you go for prepaid), hardly travel and live in a city and very well know you have signal in the places you daily. The reason I am recommending prepaid is that, you get a longer validity time for less investment.
