[rki2007]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Just ported from a T24 (Do Co Mo) connection to Aircel prepaid as heard that they have one of the lowest on net tariffs which can be used among our close circle.

Have just got the sim but would like to know their service in and around Bangalore if any one has Aircel.

I have been using Aircel prepaid from 4 years . It was really very great but off late from past 1 year I experienced a lot of call drops, low signal strength etc so I moved out of Aircel and selected airtel . It all depends on the location where you live .

[amidoc]

Hi

I ported to Airtel from Vodafone about three weeks back. The primary reason was better 3g service based on some feedback i had received. but the overall experience has not been very positive . Sometimes the 3 g just hangs and there is no loading of the pages. It just shows connecting.

I then switch back to 2g and service works fine of course the internet speed is slower. I also have to pay a deposit of Rs 3000 to activate international roaming. We had a corporate RM for Vodafone. There seems to be no set up like that in Airtel

[manson]

Ported four of our numbers from Loop Mobile to Vodafone. My brother seemed to have better phone reception on his Vodafone connection that those on Loop. Vodafone's tariffs are 10% more expensive, but if the network connectivity is indeed better it may just be worth the premium.

[arjun18]

I'm pretty sure we have some influential telecom execs here at TBHP. Why not gather them in a group and report the problems?

Idea's speed and network in pune suck but they have great rates and packages. Vodafone has always pissed me off with their billing, cutting off my connection for no fault or even delay of mine. They do have the best speeds and quality though. Still pathetic. I'd rather pick a friendly service and sacrifice a bit on quality.

[manson]

Originally Posted by arjun18

I'd rather pick a friendly service and sacrifice a bit on quality.

I have done the exact opposite of that.
Having been with Loop Mobile for over a decade, I had zilch issues with respect to customer service, even the call rates O realise were a ccouple of notches below Vodafone's tariffs, but I was simply tired of the call drops, voice cracking etc off late, moreso after having experienced Vodafone on my brother's phone. Taking calls at home has become so much more convenient for me, don't need to stand by my window for network reception anymore.
I would not have done half the monkey postures at my bedroom window had I taken up Vodafone's (Max Touch back then) services back in college days

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by manson

I have done the exact opposite of that.
Having been with Loop Mobile for over a decade,

If I remember right, Loop Mobile and newer operators started only after 2008. How did you spend a decade with them? Before 2008, there used to be only 4 gsm operators per circle.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by shipnil

If I remember right, Loop Mobile and newer operators started only after 2008. How did you spend a decade with them? .

Loop had Bombay circle license for several years back. Was known under different operator names earlier. Loop bombay has had some of the most loyal postpaid customers any telecom operator has seen so far for more than a decade.

Edit: Bombay and Kolkata circle licenses.

[carzone]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Loop had Bombay circle license for several years back. Was known under different operator names earlier.

It was known as BPL mobile and I have been a customer since 2008 IIRC. That's when it had introduced those "dus ka gang" plans!

[m.shekhar]

Switched to Tata Docomo from Airtel a few days ago.
The process was super smooth - got the unique porting id, applied for a Docomo sim with it and was ported within a week.

Main reason for the switch from Airtel was that Airtel has stopped 3G services in M.P. and Chattisgarh, and the reason to switch to Docomo was that it's 3G packs seemed comparatively VFM for the kind of usage I have.

[binand]

Originally Posted by shipnil

If I remember right, Loop Mobile and newer operators started only after 2008. How did you spend a decade with them? Before 2008, there used to be only 4 gsm operators per circle.

Loop Mobile used to be BPL Mobile (and were one of the original two licensees for Mumbai circle - the other being Orange, later Hutch, now Vodafone) earlier - I had a 98212 number with them way back in 1998 (9820x series was Orange's, 9821x series was BPL's. Original MSC allocation). The number, which was company-issued, is still active with one of the present staff members.

Initially there were two operators per circle (1995), which was expanded to 3 (1999 - MTNL/Dolphin in Mumbai and Delhi, BSNL elsewhere), then 4 (2000 - Airtel in Mumbai, IIRC) and tending to infinity now after A. Raja and the like have made their fortunes off it :-)

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by binand

Loop Mobile used to be BPL Mobile (and were one of the original two licensees for Mumbai circle

Wasn't BPL mobile acquired by Hutch before 2008? If I remember right, Mumbai circle was the one where there would have been overlap between Hutch and BPL. So how did it become Loop then? There should have been only Hutch/Orange/Vodafone in Mumbai.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by binand

Initially there were two operators per circle (1995), which was expanded to 3 (1999 - MTNL/Dolphin in Mumbai and Delhi, BSNL elsewhere), then 4 (2000 - Airtel in Mumbai, IIRC) and tending to infinity now after A. Raja and the like have made their fortunes off it :-)

Private operators you mean You forgot the omni-present BSNL/MTNL.

But good brief desc of the Indian telecom history.

Originally Posted by shipnil

Wasn't BPL mobile acquired by Hutch before 2008? If I remember right, Mumbai circle was the one where there would have been overlap between Hutch and BPL. So how did it become Loop then? There should have been only Hutch/Orange/Vodafone in Mumbai.

BPL mobile was never taken over by Hutch. I remember BPL, Escotel & RPG doing nation-wide alliances back in 2003. Maybe Hutch & BPL had an alliance in Mumbai circle, not sure about that.

BPL was rebranded as Loop in 2008-09 when they got licenses for the other circles across the country. Also it was taken over by the Khaitan group in 2005, but they choose to keep the BPL name for a few more years for utilizing the brand name.

[binand]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Wasn't BPL mobile acquired by Hutch before 2008? If I remember right, Mumbai circle was the one where there would have been overlap between Hutch and BPL. So how did it become Loop then? There should have been only Hutch/Orange/Vodafone in Mumbai.

The second question is easy to answer. There was a brand name licensing agreement between Loop Mobile (or whatever the corporate entity was called at various points in time) and Kerala's BPL group (used to make consumer electronics goods like TVs etc. - our first TV was a BPL one). This licensing agreement was not renewed sometime back, hence the mobile company lost the right to use the name and had to rebrand their services.

The first question is a bit messy. From what I can make out, BPL mobile was owned by the Essar group. The group had another foray into mobile telephony, by way of a JV called Hutchison Essar Ltd. (HEL). Essar agreed to sell BPL mobile to HEL and HEL paid the money to Essar. After they received the money, Essar decided it didn't want to sell BPL. HEL later became Vodafone Essar Ltd. or VEL (Vodafone bought Hutchison out - this deal is the one that Pranab Mukherjee wanted to tax big-time a budget or so back).

So Essar ended up owning a part of Loop mobile and a part of Hutch/Vodafone. This ownership is being investigated by (has been investigated by) TRAI, since no corporate entity is supposed to own two mobile providers.

Two questions remain:

1. How did the dispute between Essar and HEL end? It went into arbitration, but what was the arbiter's decision?

2. How did Essar wriggle out of the TRAI investigation? I think they sold their holding in VEL, but couldn't find a confirmation.

[Part of the above story I knew, part I researched on the net in the morning. E&O are mine]

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by binand

Two questions remain:

1. How did the dispute between Essar and HEL end? It went into arbitration, but what was the arbiter's decision?

2. How did Essar wriggle out of the TRAI investigation? I think they sold their holding in VEL, but couldn't find a confirmation.

[Part of the above story I knew, part I researched on the net in the morning. E&O are mine]

1. Not sure.

2. Vodafone bought them out in 2011, paid them ~$5.5Bn for the 33% ownership. That boat rocked for a long time, with both Essar & Vodafone not seeing eye-to-eye on the valuation for over a year! Currently they own 3/4th of the organization, with minority (investors) owners having the rest.

[coolclouds]

Ported from Reliance postpaid to Docomo prepaid. The process was smooth.

13 May (Monday) - Dear Reliance customer, your porting request code number is xxxx. The code is valid till 31st May 13 (Sender - RM MNP)
17 May (Friday) - Walked into Docomo store with photograph and ID proof, application submitted.
17 May (Friday) - Walked into Reliace webworld, paid outstanding bill as on date with some extra payment.
20 May (Monday) - SMS "Hi! Your request for MNP is registered successfully" (Sender - Docomo)
21st May (Monday) - Call from RCOM customer care with new offers, but I confirmed that I am porting out.
21 May (Tuesday - "Your Port in request for mobile number xxxx to TATA teleservices has been forwarded to your service provider for approval" (Sender 1901)
25 May (Saturday) - "Your port in request for mobile number xxxx has been accepted. Porting will be completed on 27-May-2013 at 22:44 PM. For querries, please call 1800-266-0000 (Sender 1901)

Further to above sms, I noticed the phone without signal at about midnight on 27th. Since I was traveling out, couldn't insert Tata docomo SIM card.

Reached Bangalore today (30 May) morning and dialed 59059 with new SIM for address verification at about 10am. They verified address and within two minutes, I was able to make calls.

30 May - 59909 - "Your Request received" (Sender 59909)
30 May - xxxx has been successfully port in with Tata Docomo" (Sender Docomo)


So, If i was able to insert new SIM on 27th night itself, the down time could have been just few hours as the verification desk work from 8am to 10pm only.