[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

Earlier, I used to recharge 1799 for 365 and data addon of 50G with same validity as base pack, now the data add on is limited to 30 days, making a big hole in my pockets since I have done same recharge method for my parents and wife too.

Why don't you consider Airtel Black postpaid package instead of such expensive prepaid plans?

I pay Rs 1780 monthly for 2 postpaid and unlimited broadband where I get 105GB of shared data monthly on out postpaid SIMs. Plus the advantage of validity everywhere in India unlike the prepaid which does not work in few sensitive areas like Kashmir etc. The bill amount used to be 1650 until couple of months ago.

I feel the BLACK postpaid plans turn out more cheaper with more features and freedom when more than 2 members are with the same service provider. And will be even more cost effective if you have broadband and TV from the same service provider. You get dedicated support for Black plans as well. Although you need to spend some time in choosing the right plan, maybe give a visit to your nearest Airtel store.

[DetectiveMiles]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Why don't you consider Airtel Black postpaid package instead of such expensive prepaid plans?

You get dedicated support for Black plans as well. Although you need to spend some time in choosing the right plan, maybe give a visit to your nearest Airtel store.

I missed typing 1799/365 days(now increased to 1999/-). And data is not priority for me unless going outside. This used to work out 150/per month and data extra, probably ~50G per year on mobile data. Even for mother's phone and wife's phone it doesn't exceed 100G per year. I don't need daily usage plans like 1.5G/day etc

[SideView]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

I missed typing 1799/365 days(now increased to 1999/-). And data is not priority for me unless going outside. This used to work out 150/per month and data extra, probably ~50G per year on mobile data. Even for mother's phone and wife's phone it doesn't exceed 100G per year. I don't need daily usage plans like 1.5G/day etc

Was doing the same, hardly use any data outside due to broadband availability everywhere else.

Keep this thread updated with what option did you find.

[xenon0025]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

I missed typing 1799/365 days(now increased to 1999/-). And data is not priority for me unless going outside. This used to work out 150/per month and data extra, probably ~50G per year on mobile data. Even for mother's phone and wife's phone it doesn't exceed 100G per year. I don't need daily usage plans like 1.5G/day etc

I am in the same boat as you. I did the 1799 recharge for 365 days which gives 24gb of data for the same duration before the recent price increase. I am not a heavy data user and hence do not need the daily data limit plans.

I do remember seeing the 50gb data recharge with the validity same as current pack for some time after the recent price increase but did not recharge it yet as I still had considerable data left. But since jio had all data packs with limited validity, Airtel also followed suit and changed the validity to 30 days. I guess I'll just do the 6gb data recharge when needed which has a validity of 30 days.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

I missed typing 1799/365 days(now increased to 1999/-). And data is not priority for me unless going outside. This used to work out 150/per month and data extra, probably ~50G per year on mobile data. Even for mother's phone and wife's phone it doesn't exceed 100G per year. I don't need daily usage plans like 1.5G/day etc

How about considering BSNL options for a prepaid annual plan? Any views on how the network in the city is vs Airtel/Jio. Saw a few options in the 1200 - 1800 INR range.

While we have a Airtel Black plan in the house (covering fiber and my mobile), the wife decided to stick to her prepaid Airtel sim for now (need to check what plan she uses these days).

[DetectiveMiles]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

How about considering BSNL options for a prepaid annual plan? Any views on how the network in the city is vs Airtel/Jio. Saw a few options in the 1200 - 1800 INR range.

While we have a Airtel Black plan in the house (covering fiber and my mobile), the wife decided to stick to her prepaid Airtel sim for now (need to check what plan she uses these days).

I was a long term BSNL loyal customer before porting to airtel, now the bsnl data speeds are very low and also, network is not reliable(They used switch off the towers when no power or thunderstorm), so I ported all the numbers to airtel. Will not go back to bsnl unless they have full 4G network and it is reliable.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

How about considering BSNL options for a prepaid annual plan? Any views on how the network in the city is vs Airtel/Jio. Saw a few options in the 1200 - 1800 INR range.

While we have a Airtel Black plan in the house (covering fiber and my mobile), the wife decided to stick to her prepaid Airtel sim for now (need to check what plan she uses these days).

Here's what I wrote for BSNL when I ported out about 2.5 years ago. Everything still holds true. Add that the voice clarity over BSNL networks is very bad as well.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...ml#post5366524 (Mobile Number Portability: Will you switch operators?)

And I, after living with BSNL for 13 years, ported out finally to Jio last week. Though I have a secondary connection from Airtel which is very good, I was still with BSNL for quite long which became worse from bad in last 2-3 years. The network signal became patchy, unreliable and the voice transmission became muddy. Internet became a thing unheard of.

Though I upgraded to a 4G sim by BSNL few months back to see if that makes any difference but no. It is to be noted that BSNL is selling 4G sims for Rs. 50/- when it even doesn't have any 4G network! Heck, they even claim to have a 3G network but 95% of the time, you phone will be in 2G. They announce that they will launch 4G at least 2 times every year- on 15th Aug and on 1st Jan and subscribers like us keep waiting. This was the story for this year too. But finally I lost the patience and shifted out after reading about further delays to launch 4G. After all there's a limit to how much you may want to support someone like BSNL. I could stretch my association with BSNL only because I have a wifi coverage at home and office and a secondary airtel sim to make calls else I would have ported much earlier. So, when every other operator is getting ready to launch their 5G services, BSNL still is not ready with its 4G and most of the times, their users are on Edge/2G networks.

Coming to the porting experience, I just walked to a Jio store near my office, completed the KYC formalities and walked out with a new sim in 15 minutes after paying for a basic plan. SIM card was free. I was informed in person and over SMS that it will take 3 days to complete the process and that is how it panned out. The difference between the voice clarity on call is like night and day. Jio (& airtel as well) also offers bunch of other value added services with its various plans where BSNL is lacking again. My Phone got to run cellular internet after a long time. At times, I would think that my handset is probably having some issue but switching the service provider makes it clear.

Unfortunately, if BSNL doesn't gets its act right soon, it may be wiped out from urban map completely in terms of subscriber base. Wake up BSNL...

[uchun]

Apparently, Airtel SIM suddenly goes "No service". The only way to fix is to visit an Airtel store and provide ID/address proof to get a replacement SIM.

This costs somewhere between 50-150 Rs (depends on the store). Happened to at least 3 persons I know.

[nagr22]

Originally Posted by uchun

Apparently, Airtel SIM suddenly goes "No service". The only way to fix is to visit an Airtel store and provide ID/address proof to get a replacement SIM.

This costs somewhere between 50-150 Rs (depends on the store). Happened to at least 3 persons I know.

Happened to me and couple of colleagues last month. We didn't have to pay a single rupee though. All of us have postpaid, maybe that's why we weren't charged. There was no explanation as to why it happened. I am guessing the IC chip inside the SIM card might have gone kaput. It is an electronic device at the end of the day so its not surprising for it to go kaput

[kochup]

Need some advice on how to proceed on the below issue -

Recently converted my corporate connection to personal and as per rules only postpaid option was available as per the Airtel shop where i got this done.

I chose the entry level Rs 449 plan and got a monthly bill of Rs 932 which included an additional charge of Rs 385 as other services.

As per the itemized bill there are 4 instances where Hello Tunes was enabled which led to incurring this cost. The only problem is
a) I did not enable or ask to enable Hello Tunes
b) As it is Hello Tunes is already included within the Rs 449 package

I raised a couple of tickets but am not getting any resolution to this problem, also i am not keen on paying the bill and then fight for getting a refund.

Any suggestions for next steps ?

[DetectiveMiles]

Recently TRAI had mandated mobile operators to introduce plans without data for the benefit of feature phone users and non-data users. Now AirTel has gone ahead and removed the data from 1999/365 days plan. Now the plan is 1999/365days without 24G data unlike before and same plan with data will cost 2249/.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/IndiaTech/c...people_wanted/

[xenon0025]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

Recently TRAI had mandated mobile operators to introduce plans without data for the benefit of feature phone users and non-data users. Now AirTel has gone ahead and removed the data from 1999/365 days plan. Now the plan is 1999/365days without 24G data unlike before and same plan with data will cost 2249/.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/IndiaTech/c...people_wanted/

Subtle price hike without actually hiking the prices. This is what happens when there is monopoly/duopoly.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

Recently TRAI had mandated mobile operators to introduce plans without data for the benefit of feature phone users and non-data users. Now AirTel has gone ahead and removed the data from 1999/365 days plan. Now the plan is 1999/365days without 24G data unlike before and same plan with data will cost 2249/.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/IndiaTech/c...people_wanted/

Sometimes I wonder if TRAI is too dumb or they are hand in glove with the players in the industry. They earlier destroyed the DTH/ cable TV network pricing claiming that why viewers should pay for channels that they do not watch. We used to get hundreds of TV channels for Rs. 300 a month back then. After this rule of TRAI, we were paying 550 bucks a month for a handful of channels. I think I was better off paying 300 with channels I didn't watch. Later ditched the entire DTH and moved to web based platforms.

And now this- TRAI asks them to provide a pack without data - telecom operators remove the data from the already available voice packs and price such packs at a higher rate! Brilliant.

Jio hasn't done this as yet, but there is little doubt that they will be pulling out the rabbit from their hat soon.

[DetectiveMiles]

Originally Posted by saket77

Jio hasn't done this as yet, but there is little doubt that they will be pulling out the rabbit from their hat soon.

Jio targets users to consume more data than AirTel, so, I have little doubt they will come with any plan that is actually cheaper.

Edit: It looks like Jio followed suite.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by DetectiveMiles

Jio followed suite.

Its not plain duopoly.

It's a hybrid: Duopoly + Cartel

No other option other than swallowing the bitter pill.
BSNL 4G will be live when mobile phones will be extinct. 5G when Humans will be extinct.