Tag: Airtel

  • The new race to win the 4G race

    The new race to win the 4G race

    After years of waiting, the 4G is finally here. Exactly, the Airtel girl has been yakking about it for ages now but the true arrival of 4G for me is now. It is when the competition starts off.

    Airtel made the first move, and others followed as soon as they can implement their own version on to their networks as early as possible. And as you all may already know, the pace of the launches are all keeping an eye on the Jio bomb that Mr. Ambani has been readying.

    The news of launch have been leaked quite a few months ago, and ever since this has been one race against the clock to gain advantage while Reliance is readying their arsenal. Airtel had a first mover advantage when they launched 4G, but how many new subscribers got added is something that is not very clear. Also, most of the additional connections have been the portable Wi-Fi devices – still a win for Airtel.
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  • airtel advertisements scores again…

    airtel advertisements scores again…

    It’s after a long time I am writing about Advertisement reviews. Airtel has come up with another set of awesome advertisements. The last time they had released their re-branding campaign with an Airtel Endless goodbye advert which launched its 3G video calling services.

    This time around, they have managed to touch the emotional chord again, with four new adverts. And it is targeting Facebook users, Music Lovers, Devotional people and Business people with Email advert covering more than 90% of the users. The new marketing tag line is Songs, Facebook, Email and Devotional songs for one Rupee, Friendship Free!

    Catch lines in these adverts.. check the emotion running behind..
    (more…)

  • Airtel Ad: Timeless Goodbye

    I liked this ad so much. The new Airtel ad where the boy or the girl tells goodbye to each other but keep meeting each other within a fraction of a second. What I really like about this is to show the importance of relationships that are hard to part with. If there are any fans of this ad, post a comment on how you feel about this ad. Two television commercials are created by the agency JWT, the brand’s creative partner, are currently on-air. (more…)

  • Airtel changes clothes, launches 3G

    Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telcom provider has changed its Logo and the Signature tune following its intention to launch 3G services in India. Airtel won 3G licences in 13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. Bharti is expecting to launch its 3G service by December 2010

    New Logo of Airtel v/s Old Logo
    New Logo of Airtel v/s Old Logo

    Coupled with the re-branding of Zain’s assets in Africa, Bharti Airtel will also re-brand in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, with no clarity of how it will re-brand its operations in Channel Islands where it is known as Airtel – Vodafone. The Branding in Channel Islands is largely following the Vodafone ideology and hence, only a Logo Change is expected. (more…)

  • How Consistant? Problems with complete Airtel now!!!

    How Consistant? Problems with complete Airtel now!!!

    I am experiencing constant network problems with Airtel of late. Ever since I have lost my Reliance data card, I have had to relay on Airtel to keep writing blogs. Airtel works best at night most of the time. In the day, the connection keeps breaking near about 700 KB of data transfer.

    The browsing speed is very pathetic. I hardly get 4 to 5 KB/S download speed on Flash Get where as on Reliance, I used to get atleast 15 to 25 KB/S.

    My place also do not have any broadband connection I can get. Even the cyber cafe near my building runs the same Reliance Data Card for access internet.

    Of late, Airtel network gets completely blacked out. 3 days before and yesterday, I was able to see the network strengh as 100%, however when I try calling or browsing, it simply does not work. I tried calling from a Vodafone and Virgin to my Airtel but it says my phone is switched off. Its network is going so poor that users are facing the pinch. To top it all, the amount which is deducted everyday for GPRS gets deducted regularly but when these kind of issues come Airtel should not charge us for their mistake. I am owl kinds who get time to work for personal stuff in the night. And the whole day I dont use the connection at all. When I discover that in the night the connection is not working, how am I supposed to communicate / work on Internet.

    If this is a one off event, I can understand that. But this happens several times a month.

    Airtel is becoming pathetic day by day. My other Airtel postpaid is in the limelight for not having paid the bill in the month of January.

    I got close to 17 calls with regards to the same. I have been telling each of these that I have made the payment well in time before my due date of 11th and also gave them the reciept number and  reference number. Some how, the payment is not updated with them and those who are calling me do not care to update.

    Registering a complaint with Customer Care also does not help. I enquired about my complaint status and what I was told shook me. The executive told me that the complaint department has already spoken to me and I have agreed that the issue is solved where I have not got a single call!

    Thats rubbish and insane. Airtel scores a big big Zero for me.

    Update (as of 19th February, 2009): After my complaint for non updation of my bill payment did not got me the desired results, I sent the mail to the Nodal Officer of Airtel. The nodal officer did revert on the mail, informing me about the updation of the bill amount with Airtel. However he did not revert on the late payment charges which were levied on the next month’s bill. Also, the amount mentioned by Airtel’s Nodal officer were wrong in the email. Though it was only some paise difference, I objected.

    I do not expect the nodal officer asking me to pay more than the billed amount (obviously after deducting the unreal INR 50 late payment charges) that I owe to Airtel for using its services. This happened a week back, and I am yet to get a revert from the Nodal Officer.

  • Tata GSM, anyone? Choose your mobile service provider wisely.

    Tata Tele is also planning of launching its own GSM services in late January or Mid February.

    Reliance has already mopped up a huge crowd for its own GSM service, with a pathetic network [Read Reliance GSM Network Quality (Review) ]

    Lets see what Tata’s  come up with.  It would interesting to see how all these would add up for Customer. The Customer would be confused with so many players to choose from. The total tally for Mumbai would be 7. These are Reliance, BPL, Vodafone, MTNL, Airtel, Idea, Tata. As for CDMA, TATA (including Virgin) and Reliance are the only service providers. No new service provider are in for CDMA.

    The most important parameter I would rate any service provider is a combination of Service Quality with decent staff and Price at which they provide the service.

    So, here is the survey to find out the Best of Mumbai’s (Maharashtra) Telecom Companies’ Services.

    Vodafone

    Vodafone scores high on the Customer service front, though its on the decline from earlier when they were Orange and Hutch. However, in cost, it would score low and their network is only best of the rest. Network congestion has been a problem area for Vodafone for some time now, and call drops increasing by the day.

    Airtel

    Airtel offers a great combination of packages with cheap offers. Its probably best used for GPRS which they offer @ Rs. 15 per day. But the customer service is the worst I have faced. To top it all, a week network makes it the most offensive. The recent survey tells that Airtel does not meet the service quality benchmark set by TRAI this year, citing huge number of call drops.

    MTNL

    MTNL on the contrary offers a good mixture of both, but does not supersede any private player on either fronts. Network remains a good point, but coverage in most areas not too good.

    Idea

    Idea has good customer service, and average plans for customers. Network remains a sore point for Idea. Abhishek has failed to entice users to Idea in Mumbai. They need to grow their network coverage.

    BPL

    The fate of this company, once with the best network in Mumbai, remains to be in doldrums. BPL today is very shabby, ultra cheap and a bad customer care. It still has the good network they had always but it is now time to increase coverage area. Call drops have been few. They have enticed the young with a young image and probably are living up to their expectations to an extent. But the traditional users of BPL have been the oldies who had a strong brand recall for BPL as they had for Sony.

    Tata & Virgin

    This is a company which is backed by a trusted brand. Tata has been on the move, and slowly and surely, they have moved up the ladder. They are not in for a dog fight. Their fares are low, and offer a superior customer services in Virgin guise, over and above what Vodafone offers. Network is good and call drops are few. Definitely, my choice of  service provider. Only let down, the handsets offered are cheap and basic. Need to have a vast collection of handsets, like Reliance does.

    Reliance CDMA and GSM

    Reliance CDMA offers the best network in CDMA, betters Vodafone by a good margin. The availability of multiple handset choice with below average (if not worse) customer service is what its all about. Reliance plans and packages are good. The free calling between Reliance to Reliance is an awesome scheme. Every other operator has failed to put up such an alternative, of course which comes at a cost or 799 INR recharge. Good network coverage across India, and good packages for Data cards.

    Tata Indicom CDMA

    Perhaps, the best bet of all, this is a real tough call to make. Reliance has already triumphed on most parameters, but when it comes to Trust and Quality, Tata Indicom leaves Reliance behind by a whisker. Sure, network of Reliance is better than Tata’s, call drops on Tata network more or less as same as that of Reliance. If you are a traveler across India frequently, you should think twice going for a Tata. The corporate choice for Data cards, Tata offers the best data card packages around.

    Summing it up

    So, in the end it all boils down to who we should trust our money with! A provider can be chosen on basis your needs. If you a need a no nonsense, affordable service provider, TATA in Virgin guise has to be your choice. It gives you your basic communication needs a full satisfaction. It also tops on the charts of the Service Quality benchmark set by TRAI

    For more than basic use of a mobile, trust Reliance in CDMA, And in GSM, Vodafone. Here goes the order.

    Tata’s have truly lived up their hype, trust people put into.

    1. Virgin Mobile (Tata CDMA)
    2. Tata Indicom CDMA
    3. Reliance CDMA

    In GSM

    1. Vodafone
    2. MTNL
    3. BPL
    4. Reliance & Airtel
    5. Idea

    Overall, Tatas emerge winner. Virgin is the brand you need to look for. If you need some thing more than virgin, go for Tata Indicom or Reliance. This stands true for both the GSM & CDMA. It seems CDMA is winning the race for quality and cost.

    Good luck for your choice. Share your exprience with me. Post a comment here.