India Magazine

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released it’s Nov 2009 telecom subscription data. Indian Telecom Industry reported a 3.3% month-to-month growth in Nov 09.

• 54.3 crore people in India with a Telephone connection
• Tele-density at 46.32
• 1.76 new wireless connections in Nov 09
• Broadband Subscription at 75.5 lakhs

Indian Telecom Industry in India has reported robust growth in 2009 despite global economic slowdown thanks to the affordable tariff options and attractive offers from different mobile service providers.

16.9 crore new phone connections have been added in last 12 months period – a 45.19% growth. Wireless segment reported 50.57% growth in the period but Wireline connections decreased by 2.34% in the period a major setback to BSNL and MTNL which holds majority of Wireline connections in India.

Aircel, Tata Teleservices and Idea reported highest growth in the last 12 months period.

In Nov 2009 Tata Teleservices added more number of connections (18.84%) followed by Bharti Airtel (15.85), Vodaphone (15.74%) and Reliance Communications (15.7%)  a clear signal that subscribers are more inclined to attractive tariff plans.

Reliance made a major improvement in Nov 09 (15.7%) compared to Oct 09 (12.56%) due to the Simply Reliance attractive tariff structure. BSNL also advanced in Nov 09 may be due to the introduction of its 3G services in some cities.

One thing is very clear from last few months data – customers are looking for attractive tariff plans and cheap call rates, they cannot be fooled with just some simple freebies like extra talk time or an extended validity offer. December month data may give more clear picture as Uninor started its operation in India in Dec 09 with a very simple packages with lowest call rates.

Prior to Tata Docomo’s entry Mobile service providers in India were attracting customers with simple freebies like talk time offers, extended validity, cheap calls to same provider numbers, low night talktime etc while holding the actual call rates at very high levels.

But that things are the past. Now customers have so many options. Customer is the King now. Providers have to come down to earth to survive in this highly competitive telecom market in the world.

Telecom, mobile phone Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Reliance, Tariff War, Telecom Industry, vodaphone

Telecom Industry in India is witnessing dramatic changes as major service providers are launching attractive and unbelievable plans to increase their share in this world’s most competitive market. Here we compare cheapest prepaid plans (plans without any monthly commitments or additional boosters).

Reliance : Reliance’s Simply Reliance is a very attractive scheme which offers 3 packs.

Simply Reliance Pay per Second : Rs 61 recharge with 1 year validity – all local and STD calls at 1p/sec and all SMS at 50p.

Simply Reliance Pay Per Minute : Rs 51 recharge with lifetime validity – all local/STD calls at 50p/minute and all sms at 50p.

Simply Reliance Pay per Call : Rs 41 with life time validity – all local and std calls at Re 1/ 3min. Local SMS at Re 1 and National SMS at Rs 1.50

Apart from this Reliance offers attractive 1p/SMS packs.

Airtel : Airtel freedom pack offers one second billing with a one time recharge of Rs 22.

Local and STD rates at 1 paisa per second for Airtel numbers and 1.2 paisa per second (72p/minute) for other landline and mobile numbers.

Local SMS at 50p, national at Rs1.5 and International at Rs 3.

BSNL : In Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s General option you have to pay 1paisa per second for all local and national numbers and 1.2p/second for other numbers.

Local SMS at 0.50, national at 0.60 and International at Rs 5.

Tata Docomo : All local and STD calls at 1p/sec. Local SMS at 60p, national at Rs 1.6 and international at Rs 5.00.

Vodaphone : In Vodaphone Ticket Plan you can move to one second billing with a yearly commitment of Rs 65. All local and national vodaphone numbers at 1p/sec and other numbers at 1.2p/sec

In Vodaphone Travel plan all vodaphone numbers at 50p/minute and other numbers at 60p/minute with an yearly recharge of Rs 64.

Local SMS at 1, National at 1.5 and International at Rs 5.

MTS : All local MTS numbers at 35p/minute and other mobiles at 70p/minute. All STD calls at Rs1.40 per minute. Local and national SMS at 50p and International SMS at Rs5.

Tata Indicom : Chutti 49 pack – all local calls at Re 1 and STD at 1.50. In Pay Per Call plan all local calls at Re 1 and STD at Rs 3 for 10 minutes and in Celebration plan all local and STD at 60 paisa/minute (Rs 99 initial recharge in both plans). In Pay per call plan local and national SMS at 50p and international at Rs 5.

Idea : As per the Nimidangal plan (first time recharge of Rs 37) all local calls at 40p/min and all STD calls at 50p/minute. local/national SMS at 50p and international at Rs 5.

In the Nodigal Plan all local and STD calls at 1paisa/second.

Uninor : Talklonger at 29/min – All local calls at 29 paisa/minute and STD at 49p/minute with a call setup charge of 39 paisa. Local SMS at 10p (promotional) and national at Rs 1.49.

Callmore at 29/min – same as talklonger except Rs 2 daily rental instead of call setup charge.

Now let us compare these plans. Suppose you make two calls of 15 minutes duration (local and STD) and another two calls of 30 seconds duration.

Summary

If you make lots of long duration calls then Reliance Pay Per Call and Tata Indicom Pay per Call are ideal for you. Even Idea and uninor will help you to save money in this class.

If you make many short calls (less than 1 minute) then ideal option is Reliance Pay Per Second or Tata Docomo or Idea (1p/sec plan).

Overall reliance is a clear winner with its superb Simply Reliance Offer which offers wide variety of options to suite all class of subscribers and additionally it offers 1p/sec SMS with SMS boosters. Uninor, Tata Indocom and Idea are also offer value for money in both local and STD calls.

* All rates mentioned above are Prepaid tariff rates for Chennai/Tamil Nadu circle (as on 9th Dec 2009). Most of the plans are available in all circles in India either in the same name or a different name. Please refer the respective site or contact the service provider for more info.

Telecom Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Mobile Tariff, Reliance, Tata Docomo, Tata Indicom, uninor, vodaphone