MTNL Launches 3G Services in Delhi – Mumbai to Follow!
(4 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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The rollout of 3G services continues to be the highlight of all scrutiny and anticipations for the Indian Telecom Regulatory Operator. Although the auctions for the 3G spectrum had been delayed till Jan 15th of the new year, we had already mentioned that the spectrum was automatically awarded to the state-owned MTNL and BSNL.
Taking advantage of the privilege given to them, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has decided to launch the 3G services, for the first time in India, in December 2008 itself. There have been a lot of speculations over MTNL’a 3G trials in various parts of Delhi and it seems our hopes are coming true.
The telephone operator plans to offer 3G services to its subscribers in Delhi, for a period of 2 months, on a trial basis. In a way, it is a very good idea since this will help consumers be aware of what 3G services can offer and can also titillate them to subscribe to the services once they get premium. MTNL officials have been quoted to say that they, first, plan to launch the 3G services in Delhi, followed by Mumbai, after 2 months.
It’s a common myth that government run services are the worst of the lot, and the myth holds more faith when it comes to technology. However, telcos like MTNL has BSNL has already, successfully, managed to prove their mettle by launching and maintaining their TriBand services and have always been the pioneer when it comes to pricing and exceeding bandwidth too. Other than the broadband services, MTNL has also been offering IPTV and VoIP services with a lot of success and satisfaction for its customers.
The network for the 3G services is set up by Motorola and MTNL has also launched a new website to let its customers get acquainted with the technology and its services.
For a technologically challenged country like ours, and also considering the general social strata of MTNL’s customers, the telco shall have to burn a lot of calories to get its subscribers excited about 3G. Another deterrent for the technology is the need of high end devices. Although almost every newly launched mid-level mobile phones have been equipped with 3G, these days, how many customers are even aware of the same?
Here’s wishing MTNL and the 3G services, in general, a thumbs up and all the luck. It would be a shame to watch its fate meet the likes of Windows Vista, a beautiful operating system that could never take off well in India just because of its high hardware requirements.
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Loved this, atleast one article that does not just rule out MTNL as a major contender to these private holdings. I used their triband and was really happy with the service, although support sucked.
Also, I think the Dolphin model was really cheap and had better network than my Vodafone. The only phone that worked in my 13 floor building elevator….
@ Rizwan
I, too, have been a consumer of their TriBand services for almost 3 years now, and till date, their night unlimited plan rocks. I remember, MTNL was the very first provider who had the guts to provide u/l connections at speeds of 256 kbps and above, at affordable prices, when others still used u/l connections at freaking 40kbps and 56kbps at similar rates, from the local cable operators.
I have not had much experience with Dolphin’s services, but I do believe that smaller the operations, better is the service within the “little” area that you operate in.
What say?
It was such a hoax … that launch and all that… mtnl’s 3g is still not available all over Delhi its just 3-4 places
Minto road, Cannaught place and two other places I cant remember.
I called up customer support after waiting for the whole day for that 3 sign to show up on my phone and they said it wont be launched untill February next year
MTNL has launched the services in Delhi on 5th of Feb 2009.A great great day for India but would have been greater if the private operators had also been enabled by suitable spectrum allocations.
The Tariff is up on the MTNL website.The Fixed charges for 3G are Rs 599 per month, little steep as the charges for data are seperate.But if one subscribes, great for video calls at Rs 3 per minute.
However the data charges are still high at Rs 5 per MB. So if you download an MP3 song of 4 MB, it costs you Rs 20. We hope that considering the internet usage being largely for video clips, Google maps and songs etc. an unlimited tariff would be announced as is the case in most networks. This will also enable mobile TV services to be practical. The Website does mention that Mobile TV would be announced soon. We hope that this would be a monthly subscription.
The Charm of 3G network with present tariff is therefore only for Video calls, which would bea reality if the 3G subscribers rise to a respectable number.
http://www.mobiletvhome.com