Mobile phones... One of the greatest inventions of last few decades. They are everywhere, just everywhere. It changed the way we communicate with each other, anywhere, anytime. Same way the landline phones did, but it was a bit different. You could not take the fixed line phone in your toilet (or anyone's toiled for that matter :P), you could not talk on phone while you were in cinema or in a mall. While mobile phones are handy. You could take it anywhere in your pocket. These small thumb-sized cell-phones are really really helpful. I can't imagine world without mobile phones now. Today when the Mobile Number Portability facility is going to be available all over India, I would like to talk about mobile phones, it's initial stage in India and the current state. Read on then.
If I talk about India, mobile phones have changed India a lot. When the mobile service initially started in India in 90's, it was damn costly. I still remember it used to cost 18 RS per outgoing call. Also, you had to pay for incoming calls too. It was a luxury then. A person with those nerdy-muscled, heavy mobile phone was counted as smart one. But, as time has passed, everything is changed. You can see a mobile phone in almost everyone's hand. From businessmen to to middle-class job-goer to the chaiwallah next to your street, people of all class owns a mobile phone these days. India has become one of the largest mobile market.
As licenses to roll out mobile services were given to private service providers, it started to change the scene. Mobile calls got cheaper and cheaper, SMS became almost free, value added services, and the latest, 3G service, India's got everything changed. There were no longer a monopoly after private service providers started their service. The competition got tougher and tougher as more providers got in the race. With so many providers all over India, and competition between them to reach and stay ahead of others gave direct benefit to costumers.
There are top mobile service providers in India namely Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Idea, Reliance and Tata to name a few. All of them claims to be the best. But what do you look for when selecting a service providers? Well, there are many aspect to look for while buying a new SIM. The coverage, terrifs are on the top. Then comes value added srvices and customer care service. You usually look at these when buying a new SIM don't you? If not, you should.
OK so what after buying a new SIM and not getting satisfied with the service provider? They claimed to have the greatest coverage all over India and you got no-coverage even when you were standing below the service provider's mobile tower? Did you feel cheated while you got your mobile bill or when you were charged for a service you never asked for? Did you feel like being stuck in the mess after choosing to go with provider X then provider Y? Well this is quite usual. You get no coverage or useless terrif with some service providers. You gave your mobile number to everyone and then you feel like changing the service provider. But doing so will change your number too! You have to give your new number to everyone, again! So what's the solution? Well, the solution is right here. Mobile Number Portability (MNP).
Mobile Number Portability allows you to keep your number unchanged while changing the service provider. So, you can switch to a better service provider without changing your number. Today, 20th January is the day when the MNP facility will be rolled out all over India. Indian Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh will flag off the nationwide roll-out of MNP today. If feels good to be one of the nations having this facility. After almost three years of getting delayed, this facility is finally here. If you want to change your service provider, you will need to apply for it to the service provider you need to switch to. You will have to pay a nominal charge of minimum 19 RS. Once you switch to a new provider, you must stay with it for minimum three months. After then, you can switch to another provider again.
While so many service provider available to choose from, it's better if you choose the provider wisely. Look at the coverage of the provider. If you get out of coverage frequently, it's no good for you. Vodafone, Airtel are best when thinking about coverage. Also check their terrifs. The terrif must be clear and easy to understand. It should not have hidden costs. Don't just go blind when you see a lowest call/SMS rate. Look for other aspects too. If you talk about cheapest terrifs, Tata Docomo, Uninor, Aircel and BSNL have cheapest call rates among others. Also look for costumer services they provide to you. If you call customer care and don't get reply even after waiting for ten minutes on hold, not worth it yeah? I'm not in favor of any company but you should check all other aspects too when switching to other provider.
I guess most people will change their provider on these basis - better terrif and better coverage. If the providers fails to provide good service, they will have to loose their costumers. These facility will be available for all GSM and CDMA mociles. So if you don't like CDMA anymore, you will switch to GSM.
Companies like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea are inviting costumers to join their network and they are giving promotional offers to new comers. Are you gonna change your service provider or are you happy with current one? Let me know.
If I talk about India, mobile phones have changed India a lot. When the mobile service initially started in India in 90's, it was damn costly. I still remember it used to cost 18 RS per outgoing call. Also, you had to pay for incoming calls too. It was a luxury then. A person with those nerdy-muscled, heavy mobile phone was counted as smart one. But, as time has passed, everything is changed. You can see a mobile phone in almost everyone's hand. From businessmen to to middle-class job-goer to the chaiwallah next to your street, people of all class owns a mobile phone these days. India has become one of the largest mobile market.
As licenses to roll out mobile services were given to private service providers, it started to change the scene. Mobile calls got cheaper and cheaper, SMS became almost free, value added services, and the latest, 3G service, India's got everything changed. There were no longer a monopoly after private service providers started their service. The competition got tougher and tougher as more providers got in the race. With so many providers all over India, and competition between them to reach and stay ahead of others gave direct benefit to costumers.
There are top mobile service providers in India namely Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Idea, Reliance and Tata to name a few. All of them claims to be the best. But what do you look for when selecting a service providers? Well, there are many aspect to look for while buying a new SIM. The coverage, terrifs are on the top. Then comes value added srvices and customer care service. You usually look at these when buying a new SIM don't you? If not, you should.
OK so what after buying a new SIM and not getting satisfied with the service provider? They claimed to have the greatest coverage all over India and you got no-coverage even when you were standing below the service provider's mobile tower? Did you feel cheated while you got your mobile bill or when you were charged for a service you never asked for? Did you feel like being stuck in the mess after choosing to go with provider X then provider Y? Well this is quite usual. You get no coverage or useless terrif with some service providers. You gave your mobile number to everyone and then you feel like changing the service provider. But doing so will change your number too! You have to give your new number to everyone, again! So what's the solution? Well, the solution is right here. Mobile Number Portability (MNP).
Mobile Number Portability allows you to keep your number unchanged while changing the service provider. So, you can switch to a better service provider without changing your number. Today, 20th January is the day when the MNP facility will be rolled out all over India. Indian Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh will flag off the nationwide roll-out of MNP today. If feels good to be one of the nations having this facility. After almost three years of getting delayed, this facility is finally here. If you want to change your service provider, you will need to apply for it to the service provider you need to switch to. You will have to pay a nominal charge of minimum 19 RS. Once you switch to a new provider, you must stay with it for minimum three months. After then, you can switch to another provider again.
While so many service provider available to choose from, it's better if you choose the provider wisely. Look at the coverage of the provider. If you get out of coverage frequently, it's no good for you. Vodafone, Airtel are best when thinking about coverage. Also check their terrifs. The terrif must be clear and easy to understand. It should not have hidden costs. Don't just go blind when you see a lowest call/SMS rate. Look for other aspects too. If you talk about cheapest terrifs, Tata Docomo, Uninor, Aircel and BSNL have cheapest call rates among others. Also look for costumer services they provide to you. If you call customer care and don't get reply even after waiting for ten minutes on hold, not worth it yeah? I'm not in favor of any company but you should check all other aspects too when switching to other provider.
I guess most people will change their provider on these basis - better terrif and better coverage. If the providers fails to provide good service, they will have to loose their costumers. These facility will be available for all GSM and CDMA mociles. So if you don't like CDMA anymore, you will switch to GSM.
Companies like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea are inviting costumers to join their network and they are giving promotional offers to new comers. Are you gonna change your service provider or are you happy with current one? Let me know.
