TeleGyaan recently brought you a post on BSNL coming out with Blackberry services in April. Now it’s the other public operators turn to offer the same. Yes, MTNL announced the launch of Blackberry services in Delhi yesterday. The service will be made available through MTNL’s postpaid arm - Dolphin.
As for the phone, the operator will be selling the Blackberry Bold as a part of its initial offerings. Also the operator is trying to take due advantage of the 3G spectrum, by offering this 3G enabled phone. This will give both the operators an edge over others. Along with the above phone, MTNL will also be offering Blackberry Curve 8310/20 and Blackberry 8700. The prices of these handsets are:
Tata Indicom has added two new cellphones in its offerings - the Samsung MPower 309 and Mpower 569. These two are well equipped with music, bluetooth and camera. Here are the specs for each of them:
MPower309:
MPower 569:
The month of February turned out to be quite positive for Indian Telecom, with GSM operators adding 9.18 mn users in the month. This has taken the total count to 277.11 mn. In percentage terms, the industry clocked a healthy growth rate of 3.43%.
Getting into specifics, here is how some operators contributed to the figure (additions and growth rate):
MTNL’s giveaway of free SIM cards to existing MTNL customers has
turned out to be a huge success for the company. Initially the
registrations were required to be done from their website but now are accepting registrations via SMS too. This move will give a spurt in the demand as many users are plain lazy or not that net savvy.
A major announcement this week was the introduction of Apple iPhone
2.0. Though many countries will be getting this masterpiece on July 11,
unfortunately India is not one of them. Our major operators have announced their intentions that it will land in India later this year.
We have featured
a new Vodafone plan for the corporates valuing Rs. 299 per month. This
is not a full value plan but the free calls are enough for an average
user. Next is the BPL Mobile’s 199 Full Value plan which is definitely better than the existing Full Value plans we have seen.
Finally, MTNL will be unveiling a Rs. 49 pack for its post paid users. This will enable the users to make local calls for just 50 paise.
MTNL’s Mumbai network Trump is about to launch a flat 50paise calling rate for its users. The recharge called as Trump Magic would be launched in a couple of days. The recharge would be worth Rs.49 and would have a validity of a month. All local calls would be charged at 50paise post activation.
The offering, which provides users to call at such a low cost is available only in postpaid plans and thus after the launch of Trump Magic, MTNL would become the cheapest among the lot. At least that is what the operator’s PR is boasting about. We see that MTNL is raising the bar and thus trying to woo users to changeover to Trump.
MTNL had announced issue of free sim cards to its
current users. The response was great and i guess the operator couldn’t
manage all of the online registration. This has led to MTNL diverting the registration process on to SMS. This would take off the extra load from the site to this new mechanised mode.
Just send “TRUMP” to 57007 and you would be contacted. I guess this would be a record breaker, with the operator making it even easier to order the sim cards. Well, we never know, MTNL may find an easier way too.
In this volatile market, one needs to be updated. To cater to such
needs, MTNL has launched this application which would provide the
following services:
The service is being charged at Rs.20 per month. The application is easily downloadable from your GPRS enabled phone. A preview of the application is provided above. This is a step ahead of the SMS alerts that are provided to users, since this has a personalised porfolio and other added services too. Site.
3G, which is the next generation of mobile services, would now be launched by the public operator MTNL. The service, which would be provided to the users of Dolphin and Trump would allow them to make video calls and access to TV. The concept of IPTV without broadband has also been proposed.
The operator is waiting for spectrum allocation and once it gets the
nod, it would be on its way to provide cutting edge technology based
services to its users. MTNL hopes to compete on the prices, which it said would be lower compared to its competitors.
The official spokesperson also made a note about users being able to access data and video at the speed of 3.6 mbps. All such aspects would take the services to a whole new level, but would come at a high price too.
Tata Indicom has got a cool makeover
of its site. The old website has made way for the new and appealing
look. The new look comes with a whole new set of functions and also
ease of access. Users can browse through cellphones and promotions on the homepage itself through a click.
All kinds of services now make their way into a section named Tata Zone. This zone has old and new services, being provided to users. One can also listen to all the caller tunes in real-time and preview stuff before downloading it.
Customize the website your way by changing the font size or choosing your circle by a cool drop down menu. The website also provides RSS Feeds which allow you to subscribe to the site and keep yourself updated.
The cell phone comparison and browsing
experience has been taken to the next level. Just click on a phone and
a larger image with details makes its way to the screen. Just drag the
phone to the compare space and by the click of a button the phones make
their way to the centre and the details drop down for easy comparison.
This has truly taken the site to a whole new level and thus makes Tata Indicom the best in terms of web presence, thanks to its colors, interface and ease of accessing and browsing.
Rewarding loyal customers and expecting them to bring in new customers is a normal case in todays business. MTNL is following the same by providing it’s loyal MTNL users, who have been with the operator for over 5 years, with a new landline at no extra charge.
The loyal user just has to pay Rs.100 per month and he could avail himself of 50 free calls. There is no mention on the number of minutes, but the factor on which the scheme could be a hit is because of the installation and security charges being waived off.
At MTNL, it’s all about pleasing the customer and nothing else.
One of our loyal subscribers shared the official results of the Voice & Data Mobile User Satisfaction 2007-(April 2008 issue) with us. The results were quite shocking in some areas, and predictable in the others. The survey was broken into categories on which the operators were marked and analysed. Given below are the standings of the same.
We can see that the overhyped biggies, namely Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance and Tata Indicom, who are always at the top of the mind haven’t made it to the toppers list. We guess that it’s all about serving the customer and not about being in the customers mind.
A quick look at the biggies, shows that they come close at a few point, but don’t manage to steal the show. Overall BPL wins the show with an average of 91.92 and right at it’s tail is MTNL with 91.20 average rating. With BPL boasting about it’s win in the race, MTNL would soon publicise about its second position.
Get the full report HERE
With IPL fever gripping the nation, Mumbai operator BPL tried and seized the opportunity. With BPL supporting the Mumbai Indians, it is trying to sway all users to support the team too. This is done by providing users with free SMS and talktime minutes each time Mumbai Indians hit a six, four or take a wicket. Here is how it works out:
Subscribe by: SMS ‘mum’ to 50505
Each six hit = 6 free local SMS
Each four hit = 4 minutes of local BPL2BPL
Mumbai team wins = the above offer gets doubled
Subscribe before the match starts
We say: With the performance of the Mumbai Indians not being upto the mark, the investment could be worthless, but since it’s about the 20-20 users can definitely gather some benefits, thanks to the runs scored. If not double benefits, the users can settle for something. Great idea anyways…
"We have tied up with a technology partner, who is carrying out the field trials. We would provide 21 channels," MTNL Executive Director J Gopal said.
The company, on Thursday launched Express alert, a value-added service for its Dolphin and Trump mobile subscribers.
Subscribing to Express alert would give MTNL customers updates on astrology, cricket scores, news and stock.
Going ahead, MTNL would launch one value-added service every month. Telecom operators are seeing a fall in their revenues because the tariff is coming down.
So, they are launching value-added services that is popular among subscribers.
