MTNL new BlackBerry 3G Data plans launched in Delhi

MTNL has introduced two new BlackBerry 3G Data plans in Delhi, from May 18, 2009.The first plan is the BlackBerry 3G Data Plan for individual customers, called the BIS Economy plan.
Under this plan, individuals will need to pay a monthly rental of Rs 249. Charges beyond free data download would be Rs 0.10/KB.
The second plan, the BlackBerry 3G Data plan for individual customers, is called the BIS 3G Economy plan. Customers opting for this plan will need to shell out a monthly rental of Rs 449. Under this plan as well, charges would be Rs 0.10/KB.
MTNL has said that the orders will be implemented on promotion basis for 90 days, from May 18, 2009 to August 15, 2009, while other terms and conditions will remain the same.
It also said that the first 100 customers who opt for the BlackBerry 3G Data plan will be charged the same tariff for the new BlackBerry 3G Plans, as the existing BlackBerry data plan, for first three months.
The existing BlackBerry 3G Data plans
BlackBerry 3G Data plan for individual customers

Plan Name	Monthly Rental	Free Data download	Charges beyond free Data download
BIS 3G Unlimited	Rs 3099/-	Unlimited	N/A
BIS 3G Value	Rs 1500/-	1000 KB	Rs 0.30 per KB

BlackBerry 3G Data plan for corporate customers

Plan Name	Monthly Rental	Free Data download	Charges beyond free Data download
BIS 3G Unlimited	Rs 2499/-	Unlimited	N/A
BES + BIS 3G Unlimited	Rs 2499/-	Unlimited	N/A

BIS: BlackBerry Internet Service; BES: BlackBerry Enterprise Service
The existing BlackBerry normal Data plan
BlackBerry normal Data plan for individual customers

Plan Name	Monthly Rental	Free Data download	Charges beyond free Data download
BIS Unlimited	Rs 1099/-	Unlimited	N/A
BIS Value	Rs  500/	500 KB	Rs 0.50 per KB

BlackBerry normal Data plan for corporate customers

Plan Name	Monthly Rental	Free Data download	Charges beyond free Data download
BIS Unlimited	Rs 899/-	Unlimited	N/A
BES + BIS Unlimited	Rs 899/-	Unlimited	N/A

MTNL will also offer 3G Jadoo services for 3G-enabled BlackBerry handsets, when MTNL’s 3G services will be launched.
The MTNL 3G Jadoo data plan for BlackBerry services will be available for Rs. 449 a month with a Re. 0.10 per KB charge.
Meanwhile, MTNL has announced in early May 2009, that it will offer customers both the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service.
The PSU also said that customers in Mumbai could also choose from smartphones like the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8310 and BlackBerry 8700g.

Aircel 3G service launch soon; 3G experience zones opened in Chennai

Aircel has inaugurated 3G experience zones in Chennai which, as the name suggests, allow people to experience third generation or 3G wireless technology for themselves.

There will be four Aircel 3G experience zones across Chennai, at Atrium2, Spencers Plaza; Fun City, Express Avenue; Atrium Citi Centre and Aircel Store PH road.
Tata DOCOMO has already announced the upcoming launch of their 3G plans for India and are heavily marketing their services. MTNL and BSNL, the established players who are already in the 3G services market are countering with their own 3G plans and announcements. Reliance 3G and Airtel 3G services are also expected to start soon; consumers are eagerly awaiting news of their tarifs and plans. Related stories: MTNL revises 3G tariffs for Delhi and BSNL unlimited 3G data plan
Aircel has still not announced any details of its 3G plans in Chennai or the rest of India.
Video calling, Aircel interactive video voice response – a video service which will show music videos and films etc, and Aircel 3G PocketInternet portal which has entertainment, news, sports and other content are some of the services that users will be able to experience at the Aircel 3G centers.
With these experience zones, Aircel has technically become the first private operator in India to offer 3G services, though only at select locations. The Aircel 3G experience zones have been inaugurated days before Tata Docomo launches 3G services for its customers on Diwali this November 5.
Aircel, the fifth largest telecom operator in India in terms of subscribers, has won 3G spectrum in 13 of the 23 telecom circles in India. The company is present in all 23 circles and has a subscriber base of 47 million. Related: 3G service providers in India

The other operators that won 3G spectrum are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Reliance Communications, STel and Idea Cellular. While Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications will probably begin offering 3G services starting this year, Vodafone might offer 3G only next year. All the operators won spectrum in a few circles each and none of them have 3G airwave rights for Delhi and Mumbai, the most important telecom circles in the country. This means that unless they share spectrum with each other and with state run operators BSNL and MTNL, the operators will not be able to offer 3G roaming services throughout the country. Negotiations among operators for sharing spectrum are currently on.
Aircel intends to roll out 3G services commercially within two months. Aircel will spend $500 million on 3G rollout and the service will be available in Chennai and Coimbatore first.
Preparing for the future over the past few months, Aircel has released Aircel Pocket Internet, Aircel Pocket Apps store and Aircel Apollo Mobile Health Care products and value added services.

3G service providers in India gearing up for battle

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Tata DOCOMO, Idea Cellular, Aircel and S Tel readying 3G services for India

The clock is ticking, and BSNL is gearing up to face competition. Third-generation cell phone services by private telecoms operators are poised to be launched in India soon. It was less than six months ago –May, to be precise – that the government announced the results of the 3G auction, where non state-backed industry players bid for telecoms circles in which they would provide 3G services. As it turned out, no operator could bag the 3G spectrum in all circles – with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications , Tata, Idea Cellular, Aircel and S Tel ending up sharing the 3G pie.
Less than a month ago, the Indian government allocated airwaves to the winning operators and agreed to amend existing license terms. According to the new conditions, private operators will be allowed to use the 3G spectrum for a period of 20 years (starting now) even if their telecoms licenses expire before that. There is a caveat, though – that the 3G service cover at least 90 percent of the relevant areas in the metros within the next five years. Soon after the allocation, Minister of IT & Communications, A. Raja, confirmed that 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) will be launched very soon.
What this means for you is that by the end of the year, if not sooner, we will have access to much faster data streaming and download speeds on your cell phones and other computing devices. But better be prepared to shell out some extra cash as the 3G services aren’t likely to come cheap, thanks to the high cost of the spectrum (the auction winners paid out a total of more than Rs. 51,000 crore), plus the limited bandwidth allocated to each operator.
Since no one player will be able to tap the entire market, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have decided to team up and share the basic infrastructure (and thus, the cost) needed to provide 3G services across India. The trio already jointly own Indus Towers, a leading Indian tower company. Not the best news for Reliance, which will have to go the whole hog alone.
So how big exactly is the 3G opportunity in India? Well, a report by PwC anticipates that 3G services will reach rural India by 2012, with the number of subscribers in those areas likely to cross 107 million by 2015. Quite significant, considering that the total number of current telecoms subscribers in the country stands at almost 670 million, according to Raja.
Individually, telecoms operators are doing their groundwork to ensure a smooth rollout of 3G services in the respective circles allotted to them.

Vodafone 3G services

Vodafone Essar Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, is reportedly planning to pick a non-Chinese vendor for its 3G portfolio. The company is eyeing contracts with Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson for 3G equipment in India. Vodafone will provide 3G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (East) and West Bengal circles.

Meanwhile, Reliance Communications (RCom) has inked a deal with global telecommunications solutions provider ZTE to deploy the new 3G-UMTS/GSM network for Reliance Mobile. ZTE will manufacture and supply 3G-UMTS equipment for eight out of 13 telecoms circles bagged by Reliance Mobile. The network to be deployed by ZTE is based on the standard SDR platform, which can currently support 2G and 3G modes in a single base-station and can be easily upgraded to support a 4G network in the future.

Reliance makes its 3G moves

RCom has also established a 3G Innovation Lab with at Reliance ADA Group’s headquarters in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, near Mumbai. The Lab is based on the concept of “Open Platforms” architecture and is expected to bring together content developers, product innovators, technology platforms enablers, device manufactures and original equipment manufacturers from India and abroad to create 3G products and applications.
RCom bagged 13 3G circles – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir.

Airtel’s 3G plans

The highest bidder in the 3G auction (Rs. 12,295.46 crore), Bharti Airtel, reported that it has tied up with Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies for its 3G infrastructure. Networks in seven out of Airtel’s 13 circles will be managed by Ericsson India, whereas NSN and Huawei will take care of three circles each. Each vendor will plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G-HSPA networks in its allotted circles.
Airtel’s circles include Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (W), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, North East, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam.

Idea readying 3G service

The next telecoms operator to get its hands on 3G bandwidth was the Aditya Birla Group-owned Idea Cellular, which won licenses for 11 circles – Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (W), Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Idea plans to launch its 3G services in the last quarter of this year but is likely to face delays in Punjab as it is awaiting certain regulatory clearances in the area, following its merger with Spice Communications last year. In related news, there have been rumors of Idea evaluating stake-sale proposals. The chief of Emirates Telecommunication Corp recently mentioned that the Middle East-based company might consider an investment in Idea Cellular.

BSNL slashes 3G rates

In anticipation of the flood of 3G services from private telecom operators, BSNL, which already offers 3G services across the country, slashed rates of its existing 3G data packages by up to 45 percent last week. The tariff for an unlimited data plan for post-paid customers has been cut from Rs. 2,499 to Rs. 1,359. Recharge vouchers for pre-paid customers will also be cheaper at Rs. 1,499 (earlier available for Rs. 2,756). The public sector undertaking has also launched new short-term validity vouchers. A voucher of Rs. 10 offers 20MB worth of data download for a day, a voucher for Rs. 25 gets you 25MB for three days and a Rs. 50 voucher offers 100MB worth of data download for seven days. Currently, BSNL’s 3G services are available in more than 500 cities in India.
It sounds all nice and good, doesn’t it? But one wonders what will be the challenges posed to the telecoms industry by this 3G revolution in India, with so many private players – having coughed up such massive amounts of money to secure licenses – chartering unknown territory? Ellen Daley, vice president and practice leader at Forrester Research, sounds a note of caution. Speaking to The Economic Times recently, Daley predicted  the introduction of “flat rate plans” and a furious price war to begin once the service is launched – much like what happened last year when tariff cuts affected both voice and SMS segments and nearly halved the revenue realized per minute by operators.
She added that 3G operators will have to increase their number of cell sites and enhance the backhaul infrastructure – all of this at steep costs – to support the additional traffic.
The advent of 3G services seems well-timed as India expects a number of 3G-ready devices to hit its shores as early as next month. So, if all goes according to plan and private operators get their infrastructure in place, you will soon enjoy the high-speed data revolution that’s been raging across other countries in recent years.
As you might recall, alongside the auction of 3G bandwidth in May, airwaves for wireless broadband access were also up for grabs. The winners of the broadband spectrum have yet to decide between WiMax, a technology readily available, and Long Term Evolution (LTE), for which standards are still being thrashed out.

MTNL MUMBAI 3G TARIFF PLAN DETAILS

 
Every one is very eager to know about  MTNL Mumbai’s 3G Mobile Service tariff plan in details, so we bring you exclusive tariff plans for you first on TelecomTalk.

To get a taste of MTNL’s 3G services, a subscriber can opt to first try out MTNL 3G Jadoo services with a ‘3G Trial Pack.’ For Rs. 99, a subscriber can use this trial pack for 15 days, where he can download up to 50MB of data. Any excess data usage beyond this will cost Rs. 3 per MB.

MTNL Dolphin-Postpaid 3G Plan-The GSM Mobile Service user can subscribe to any of the existing Dolphin 2G plans for Voice and SMS being offered by MTNL Mumbai.

Along with this they can subscribe to MTNL Mumbai 3G Jadu services as an addon service, the tariff details of 3G Jadu Service of which are given below-:

1.3G SIM card (one time) charges: Rs. 300 (only for new customers)
2.Voice calls and SMS will be charged as per the MTNL Dolphin 2G plan opted by the cusotmer.
3. Local Video calls: On MTNL network: Rs. 1.80 per minute and for other local networks it will Rs. 3 per minute.
4. National/STD video calls: Rs. 3.75 per minute and ISD video calls at Rs. 30 per minute.

5. Unlimited Plan of Rs.2500 comes with Data Cap of 25 GB

MTNL Trump Prepaid 3G Plan:
The prepaid plans of MTNL Trump 3G service are the same as postpaid plan,the details of Prepaid 3G Plans as below-

The Trump prepaid 3G Jadu service tariff is applicable only on the MTNL Mumbai Network. While roaming, any of 3G servcie or data usage beyond th e limit Subscriber will be caarge at Rs. 10 /MB.

MTNL 3G Data Card HSDPA Service -
MTNL Mumbai Subscribers can also subscribe the HSDPA connectivity which will provide the broadband speeds on their HSDPA enabled smartphones as well as computer and Leptop in MTNL 3G coverage area. This service will be available at Rs. 149 with 60 MB free data download per month. MTNL 3G HSPA data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8 Mbit/s on the uplink.

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.