Tata DoCoMo 3G Tariff Plans Announced

The first privately held company unveils Tariff Plans for 3G Services in India.

Tata DoCoMo had launched third-generation GSM telephony services dubbed as 3G Live in India last week. Now, the company has revealed the tariff details for Basic 3G Plans, Data Plans and even Voice+Data plans for consumers in nine Indian circles. 

Telecom Talk has put up the tariff plans for TATA DoCoMo's 3G Life services. 

Tata Docomo 3G services are available in all the nine circles where it has the 3G license-Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP (West), Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra-Goa. All plans announced would be effective from November 10 in the aforementioned nine circles. Now let's take a look at different 3G Life plans announced by Tata DoCoMo. 

For those who just want to try out 3G Data plans can look out for 3G Data Top-ups which are basic data packs. To begin or experience 3G, one can go for Data Top Up of " Rs. 90 that offers 100MB usage at 21Mbps with a validity of a week. Furthermore if you want to try it out for a month (30 Days) you can go for:

- Rs. 200 Top-up with 200MB usage at 21Mbps 
- Rs. 500 Top-up with 650MB usage at 21Mbps
- Rs. 2000 Top-up for unlimited usage at 21Mbps till 15GB of download and then the speed drops to 256Kbps.

Also, a typical Video Call would cost 0.66 paise per second which sums up to almost 39.6 paise per minute. We're sure you'd rather go for video chat over the Internet connection because Video calls over 3G would require more bandwidth. Unless you don't care for the bills, Video calling is going to be a costly affair.

Small Screen Voice and Data Plans:
Meant for 3G supporting smartphones, these plans are available for both Pre-paid and Post-paid Tata DOCOMO subscribers. Check out the plan tariffs below:

- In addition, there is also a plan available only on Prepaid for Rs." 350. This has 500 minutes (Local+STD) and 150 MB of 3G Data
- These minutes can be used for ALL local, STD and outgoing roaming calls-all calls are on a per-second pulse
- The options are designed at various price points to cater to different consumption levels
- The above voice call minutes and 3G Data plans have a validity of 30 days
- Plans available in both Post-paid and Pre-paid, so customers can choose their payment preference


Unlimited 3G Life:
Carefree Internet users who seek blazing fast browsing as well as download speeds without worrying about the bills should take a look at the Unlimited 3G Life Plans. 

High Speed 'Unlimited' 3G Data Card Plan for Rs. 2,000 has been announced wherein subscribers would get 15 GB of data usage at a speed of 21.1 Mbps and beyond 15 GB would be free 3G with lower speed of 128 kbps.

Tata DoCoMo certainly is bit costly as compared to the BSNL 3G Plans available today. Now we shall wait for other mobile operators including two telecom stalwarts - Airtel and Vodafone to roll out 3G services and reveal their 3G tariffs in the country.

Telecom Tuesday: Tata Tele growth, BSNL MNP Implementation, Rural Internet Penetration

Tata Teleservices has not become the 4th largest Telecom Operator in India

Tata Teleservices has crossed the 75 million subscriber mark to become the fourth largest telecom operator in the country leaving behind state operated BSNL. The three telecom operators Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance have all over 100 million wireless subscribers with Airtel at the top.
The growth of Mobile subscribers has been primarily led by Tata Docomo, the GSM based offering which has constantly launched path breaking pricing plans as well as innovative data schemes. Infact, Tata Docomo launched last year with “one paisa per second” plan which set the tone for Entire Indian telecom Industry.
Tata Tele has doubled its subscriber base in last one year going from 38.1 million mobile subscribers in July 2009 to 76.9 Million in August 2010.

BSNL says it is ready to offer MNP to its subscribers

Mobile Number Portability has been already seen postponement of dates more than 4 times. But, it seems that we may get lucky the 5th time. There are  signs that MNP will be implemented this time.
BSNL has gone ahead and announced that it is ready with its infrastructure to implement MNP for its subscribers.
Having said that, it does not necessarily mean that larger Operators will be ready by then…Infact, they are quite reluctant to offer MNP to their subscribers and fear that the service may lead them to lose a significant number of subscribers to their competitors. Also, some of these Telecom operators want compensation from the government in lieu of possible financial loss that they will suffer after implementing the MNP.
Guess, only time will tell if MNP will be implemented by Oct. or we will see yet another postponement.

84% of rural India are unaware of Internet

Although, Urban India has adopted Internet in large numbers (especially younger generation), Internet penetration in Rural India is close to zilch. Even though Government is making huge efforts to increase the penetration, it seems to be failing miserably.
According to the survey conducted jointly by IAMAI and IMRB, about 84 percent of people in rural India are not aware of Internet. The organizations believe that this lack of awareness is the primary reason that has prevented internet take-up in rural India.

The research further found that 38 percent of rural inhabitants feel no need for internet access. Further reasons for not using the internet include lack of an internet access point (31%), unfamiliar with computers (31%), no computer available (28%), need for guidance (28%), no electricity (22%), and not being able to afford internet (10%).

At present, common service centers and cyber cafés serve as the primary mode of accessing internet, with more than 70 percent of the rural population accessing the internet this way.

Telecom Buzz: Indian CDMA iPhone, Tata Docomo 3G launch, TRAI billing Audit, Olive Online store

Telecom Sector is buzzing quite a bit this week – Here are some of the interesting news

Apple plans to launch CDMA iPhone in India

This is good news for Indian CDMA subscribers, according to report in Wall Street Journal, Apple is in talks with two Indian telecom operators about launching a CDMA version of the iPhone in India. Tata Teleservices and Reliance seems to be in talk with Apple for past few months for launching CDMA based iPhone in India.

Incidentally, both these private players have highest CDMA users amongst the private players. GSM based Apple iPhone 3Gs is already available with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone in India.
However, given the sky-high prices of iPhone, I doubt there will be too many takers for CDMA iPhones. Most of the CDMA users are price conscious customers as CDMA rates are comparatively lower than GSM offerings.

Tata Docomo 3G services to be launched in Diwali

November 5th 2010 – That is the date when Tata Docomo plans to launch its 3G services on eve of Diwali. It will become the first private player to launch 3G services in India. BSNL, the government operator has been offering 3G services for sometime now.

Although, it was expected that Telecom Operator would roll out 3G services in phased manner – Tata has surprised all with decision to launch it simultaneously in all nine service areas. Tata Teleservices will definitely cash on the first mover’s advantage over other 3G bid winning private operators.
The 3G mobile phone services will be launched on the DoCoMo brand, the spokesman said. The company has already given a contract to the Indian unit of Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies Co. for the supply of 3G telecom equipment. [TGF]

TRAI to audit customer Billing of all Telecom Operators

Overcharging customers seems to have become a norm – I am myself surprised receiving my mobile bills and complaints to the Telecom Operator go un-noticed.
To curb this practice – TRAI has taken a stern action by inviting an expression of interest (EOI) from accredited auditing agencies to check metering and billing accuracy as mandated under quality of service regulations. The metering and billing systems of all cell phone operators, will now be scanned with the help of independent technical auditing experts and firms.
I really hope this audit is executed properly – I am sure Audit will bring out some startling facts about customer billing !

Olive Telecom starts Online store to sell devices online

Indian Mobile Handset Brand, Olive Mobiles is one of the first telecom companies who have started selling their handsets online. The New Online shopping portal launched by Olive Telecom will have full range of Olive products.

Olive Telecom was one of the first Indian companies to launch a Tablet in India – The Olivepad, which is currently listed online and can be pre-ordered for Rs. 25,990/-. The shipping for same will be start on October 25^th.

See how I bought burger at McDonalds [Future payments]

I visited Japan few days back, thanks to fully paid trip by Tata Docomo in their 3G life contest. It was a revelation to say the least on different ways mobile and 3G is currently being used in a country like Japan.

From buying candies at Vending machines to traveling in subway, Mobile is used everywhere, most of which is possible due to fast unparalleled 3G connections.
Just to give you an example of what I am talking about – Have a look at this short video on how I bought a burger at McDonalds outlet in Tokyo. From getting coupons on mobile phone to making payments everything happened seamlessly.
Here is what I did – Placed my order, attendant punched in the amount and I placed my mobile phone on the reader which was connected with McDonalds billing system. The payment was made!!!
Everything in less than 15 seconds.
Here is another example – We wanted to travel from Shinjuku to Akhiabara (A place to buy Electronic gadgets in Tokyo) via subway. We just took our mobile phones, flashed it on the reader at entry point and exit points of the subway stations. The train fare was calculated (depending on entry and exit points )  automatically and deducted from our Mobile Money (or Mobile Wallet or Mobile credit card..whatever you call it). It was absolutely seamless!
Now, I am sure you will be having a question in your mind as to whether we will see such a system in India ever. Yes, it is very much possible, especially now that we have 3G in our midst. Having said that, it is not very easy.
NTT Docomo is one of the foremost telecom services provider in Japan, and have made large investments in bringing up infrastructure on which these services reside. Infact, in Japan we may possibly see plastic credit cards give way to Mobile cards (NTT Docomo has its own Mobile Credit card, which works just like your normal visa card).

One thing for sure, Indian Telecom Operators need to look beyond Voice calls, SMSes and trivial value added services and built infrastructure (offline as well as on mobile) for services like contactless Mobile payments and Mobile Credit Cards. Tata, thanks to their partnership with NTT Docomo are probably much better placed than other providers to bring these services in India.
What do you think? How soon will see these kind of services in India?