Pages

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Uninor - Kolkata launch

Kolkata is a important place for real esate group Unitech. And I guess this metro is also important for Uninor, cheapest metro over nation - Kolkata needs special care. MTS did excellent tariff offer for Kolkata. Msaver95(local @1p/2s, std 1p/s for lifetime) is only for Kolkata !!!! 

Uninor Kolkata office

Unitech Wireless (Kolkata) Pvt. Ltd.
Unitech Wireless Victoria Park
Plot No 37/2, Block GN, Sector V
Saltlake Electronics Complex
Saltlake
Kolkata - 700091

Some source saying Uninor signal is ready over Sector V area of Saltlake. So I guess Uninor coming soon. But probably in January,2010 Orissa will get Uninor. Kolkata will get Uninor in February ! 

Per second calling - how good is it ?

Recently Uninor has rolled out GSM services with no second-billing which is a Tata-Docomo-set industry norm. Uninor said per-second billing(PSB) is not for all.

yes that's right , PSB is not for all. while earlier most operators offer onnet free calling @ 20p-5p/min , such offers are withdrawn. So for those make longer calls is now paying 60p/min (1p/sec) if opted PSB. Well Tata Docomo, MTS, Aircel, Idea have come with Rs30-Rs 45 STV for local calling @ 1p/2s.

Now PSB coming with lifetime validity or 1 yr validity. But my point is not that. I am not talking on cheaper STV with longer validity. It is fact STD calling is dropped to 50p/min due to Reliance. and Over India SMS rate is also 1p/sms ! but there is not much drop in local calling. It is ranging between 60p/min - 72p/min for Airtel, Vodafone! While Tata Docomo, Aircel, Idea cuts local calls @ 1p/2s for Rs 45 per month ! that's not cheap !!! 

So what do you see? there's still a place to drop local calls. As termination charge is 20p/min so I guess local calls could be 25p/min ! MTS Kolkata MSAVER95 which offers local calls @ 1p/2s (=30p/min) is alright. 'coz PSB must be costlier than PMB(per minute billing). 

what do you say ?

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Cheapest Tariffs in Kolkata Mobile Market

Voice Calls:

option 1 for long calls - Tata Indicom PAY PER CALL @ Re1/10min ; daily rental Re1 

option 2 for shorter calls & no daily rental : MTS Msaver Rs95 for all local calls@ 1p/2s , STD @1p/sec lifetime offer

option 3 for STD calling: Get Simply Reliance (gsm/cdma) plan @ 50p/min & 50p/sms (loc/std/roamin) , lifetime offer

or Virgin Mobile lifetime offer @Rs30(as I found in my area) - V2V 15p,V2O 30p [loc], std 50p roaming Re1/Rs1.50 as usual ! 


# local&STD calling> MTS is best as it is per second billing. but roamin charge is best on Reliance Simply50 Plan !

SMS charge:

Reliance rocks here with 1p/SMS with Rs 11 or take Rs30 pack for unlimited SMS for 1 month

MTS SMS pack for daily rental Re1, get 100 local & national SMS everyday ! 

GPRS PACK:

Aircel beats all - Pocket Internet @ Rs98 unlimited (PC/Mobile use)

BSNL monthly Rs 230 works well if you stay in 3G enable areas, and use 3G n/w from n/w selection from your 3G handset menu !  

Reliance also comes with Rs 299 - 2 GB/month ! :) 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

what is my choice?

MTS- call/sms

Aircel- mobile internet


Sunday, December 06, 2009

Tariff War : How Airtel Reacts


Tariff War is going on in India's wireless market and see how Airtel reacts to 'Mobile Tariff War' in recent times. (Using Kolkata circle's tariff)



In June 2009: Rs 102 STV offers all local calls @60p/min for 180 days

In September 2009: Rs 41 STV offers all local calls @50p/min for 1 yr.

In October 2009: Rs 64 STV offers all onnet local&STD calls @1p/sec and all offnet local&STD calls @1.2p/sec for 1 yr. (i.e. 60p/min onnet and 72p/min offnet !)

In November 2009: Rs 54 offers all local&STD calls @50p/min for 1 yr

In December 2009: Rs32 offers all local&STD calls @50p/min for 1 yr

So Airtel's trend is reduction in STV values & increase in tariff validity but no drastic reduction of tariff.

Airtel told that they will not response to tariff war, yes they don't. Bcz call rate/sms rate is still high on Airtel. While Reliance offers 1p/sms (local/national/on roaming) for monthly commitment of Rs11, Airtel charges Re1 for local & Rs1.50 for national sms ! But Airtel had to roll out Per-Second billing & slashed roaming rate also just to match others(Read Tata DocoMo & Reliance)! I guess if Reliance was not there, Indian Telecom market would not be like now! and Tata DocOMo did roll outPay-As-You-Use tariffs.

But see now local & STD call rate is same, so reduction in STD calls only , but local call rate still has space to be cut down ! Well MTS reached a bottom with 1p/2sec with Rs30/month and/or Rs95 for lifelong ! Termination charge is 20p/min , if it is lowered down, tariff will be more cheaper ! 


Friday, December 04, 2009

3G is Coming: Notes on Handset features

India got the taste of 3G mobile technology from MTNL and BSNL. Both of these telcos are Govt-owned, hence PSU. While MTNL is good in Mumbai & Delhi, BSNL in Kolkata metro is not that good. So I am waiting for private players to enter 3G market, and worst part is 3G auctioning is just like Khuror Kol of Sukumar Ray, It is just not happening out !!
I am waiting for private players' 3G, reason mainly is BSNL's pathetic service in Kolkata, and in my area BSNL has no 3G coverage. And most importantly I don't have a BSNL mobile connection and neither wana take one !
However I am moving beside the topic. I am here to post on 3G standards on Mobile handsets.
Please note for GSM, data services are on different technology like this :
WAP > GPRS > EDGE > 3G UMTS(2Mbps) > 3G HSPA(3.6Mbps) > 7.2Mbps > 10.2Mbps >21Mbps
that's it , when you buy a 3G handset have a look for UMTS or HSPA.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

UNINOR STARTS GSM SERVICES IN INDIA


Unitech Wireless, the joint televenture of India's real estate giant Unitech Group and Norway-based world's 6th largest telecom firm Telenor rolls out its GSM service under Uninor brand in 7 circles of India. Uninor is launched in Andra Pradesh, Bihar & Jharkhand, Tamilnadu & Chennai, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (East & West). "The largest single day launch in telecom history.", as quoted in Twitter by Uninor guys.

Uninor enters India as 15th telecom brand, after Vodafone, Airtel, BSNL, MTNL, Loop Mobile, Idea Cellular, Reliance CDMA, Tata Indicom, Aircel, Reliance GSM, Virgin Mobile, MTS India, Tata DoCoMo, Ping Mobile. So Uninor is India's 10th GSM operator.

Uninor prepaid SUK comes for Rs 49 with lifetime validity and Rs 5 talktime. Uninor is giving bonus on 1st recharge, for eg, Recharge with Rs 50,100,150 and get talkvalue of Rs 55,115,175. 

Interestingly, Uninor does not follow the per-second billing, Tata Docomo-set industry's new norm, "Per-second billing is not the only feature that subscribers are looking at".

Uninor offers 2 plans - for those calls longer and for those who makes more calls. And these plans are quite confusing to understand.

Plan 1: TalkLonger 

Local calls @ 29p/min; STD calls @49p/min

here the story is for a call you have to pay 39p extra, for eg: if you talk for 10 min, you have to pay (10X29+ 39 )p= 329p. Similar for STD calls. To be brief, you have to pay (39+29)=68p for the first minute of any call(of any duration) and from the second minute it's just 29p/min. So if your habit is to call longer, opt it !

Plan 2: CallMore

local calls @29p/min; STD calls @49p/min

here the story is Daily Rental Rs.2 is applicable. To choose this plan simply dial *222*8*1# from your uninor mobile. 

SMS Rates on both Plans:

Local SMS 10p, U2U free 100 local SMS/day, while 1st offnet SMS everyday will be charged at 99p and therefore 10p. Nationa SMS is as high as Rs1.49

Points to be noted before you rushed to pick a new SIM:

  • No SMS pack compared to Tata DoCoMo(100 or more local & national sms free after 1st 2 charged daily)/Reliance (1p/SMS, be it local,national or you are roaming)
  • No cheaper Onnet calling pack
  • GPRS is not launched like DoCoMo came with GPRS.
  • #

Will I opt Uninor when it comes to Kolkata?

If uninor comes with such tariff, my answer is no! I am using MTS and Airtel now, and MTS Mcard95 gives me 1p/2s for all local calls and 1p/s STD calling for lifetime and SMSpack is worth of daily Re1 for 100 local & national SMS ! so no question about opting such tariff ! 

** Uninor Kolkata launch: February-March 2010

Watch the latest Uninor ads at http://www.uninor.in/TvAds/default.aspx

ADDITION #1


# From The Telegraph India - Telenor plans are basically of higher tariffs

Analysts said the tariff plans were more expensive compared with other operators. 

“Although local call rates are 29 paise, there is an additional fee which takes the total cost of a call to around 70 paise per minute, which is higher than some operators who are charging 30-60 paise per minute.”

Justifying the high tariff plans, Telenor Group CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said, “Our target market is mid-to-high- end customers.”

Telenor is also staying away from the per-second billing plan that most operators have recently announced. “Per-second billing is not necessarily a feature customers are looking for,” he said.

(Taken from http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091204/jsp/business/story_11820485.jsp)

ADDITION #2

Now from my side something to write down 

Uninor said their target is mide-to-high-end customers, I am guessing Uninor targeting mid & high ARPU users. But why high users will move to a newcomer, whether it is coming from world's 6th largest operator. Rather high-end users will stick to reliable old Airtel or Vodafone.[ in Mumbai Indicom/Idea/Loop also serves well !] Moreover Uninor doesn't intend to bid for either the 3G or broadband wireless access spectrum, expected to be auctioned in January 2010. So if you use GPRS/EDGE now, you can't get better and faster internet on mobile in future from Uninor. Earlier Uninor officials told they will not intensify tariff war, and they do so. 

Uninor has targeted to achieve 8% market share by 2018 and EBITDA break-even in 3 years, and operating cash flow break-even in 5 years. So they are not aggressive with this operation.

But India's wireless market is to get more operator - pan India basis, Loop & Videocon and Etisalat & Batelco-owned Stel to be launched in some circles. While two global players yet to be launched tariff has to reduce more in some ways.

Medianama report says: "Uninor may have officially launched its services, but we get the feeling it hasn’t shown all its cards yet "

 

ADDITION #3

Hope this is last edit, I did visit Telenor Global website - www.Telenor.com , there is a seperate India operation section - http://www.telenor.com/en/news-and-media/in-focus/india/

On the launch of Uninor in India, the press release says:


“Ab mera number hai”

Uninor will leverage from Telenor Group’s established marketing and design framework. As in several other markets where the Telenor Group is present, the brand follows Telenor’s brand strategy, combining the global position of the Telenor Group with a distinct local identity. Uninor’s tagline is “Ab mera number hai” or “My time is now”, set to target the young and ambitious individuals.


With this high tariff how they are targeting youth ! I have nothing left to comment ! 

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Computer Shops in Chandni

Supreme
Techno Crat
Eastern Logica
MD Computers
Vedant Computers (26 GC Avenue)
Arihant 

my moVies liSt

hi guys this is MY MOVIE LIST. 

have a look how many movies I have downloaded from net. a small no. are also ripped/re-ripped by myself also !! ... 

i will edit this file regularly ! .. 


http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASwGBnMoG4CpZGNxOTRqMmZfNmNzMnpqemZr&hl=en