Now that the great Indian 3G dream is close to becoming a reality (well almost) it’s time to wipe off the dust from those 3G handsets we’ve owned for so many years and keep an eye out at 3G tariff plans in India. State owned enterprises BSNL and MTNL had launched their 3G network services some time back and now it’s time for the private operators to jump in. That’s what everyone (or at least me) was waiting for.
Vodafone has declared that they will launch their 3G services in India by the end of 2010. Bharti’s Airtel has similar plans. Tata, Reliance, Idea and others are set to follow suit. Knowing that number portability has been kicked off the pitch major private telecom operators can use it to their advantage initially. 3G auctions have no doubt left the government pretty wet deep inside. I’m sure they’re already partying over it.
Talking about how much will 3G cost in India let’s first take a look at what services and tariff plans the state owned telecom operators have at the moment. We know BSNL and MTNL are the only current 3G operators in the country.They might have taken off with 3G in India in the hope of making the most out of it but people haven’t really been a sport. These operators can hardly handle their current network, how will they handle 3G?
While MTNL charges around Rs. 500 for activating a new 3G connection (prepaid in Delhi), BSNL currently has a promotional period from May 15 2010 up to 90 days during which they’re offering free activations for new 3G prepaid connections (only one time STV cost of Rs.99).
BSNL charges it’s subscribers Rs. 0.30/minute for video calls in both intra and inter circle calls on it’s 3G networks. It’s a promotional tariff plan. On the other hand MTNL charges it’s subscribers Rs. 0.30/minute for local video and voice calls and Rs. 0.60/minute for STD video/voice calls.
BSNL 3G data access is priced at Rs. 0.01 per 10KB pulse and MTNL has the same tariff plan for data access on it’s network. Now this is cheap comparing it to the current Rs. 0.10 per 10KB pulse we’re paying for GPRS/EDGE networks. But then on a 3G network you’re bound to consume more bandwidth considering the high broadband speeds.
If I have to make a prediction about private operators’ 3G tariff plans in India, I would clearly rule out anything on the lines of the above tariff cards. This is only a State game plan. For private operators like Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance etc. content services will set the benchmark for 3G based tariff plans. Data access rates could be competitive considering the companies have their eyes on remote connectivity devices such as 3G USB modems.
With data hungry smartphones penetrating deep into the country the demand for 3G has been set. People have had 3G phones even when they had no clue what it was and when they knew they just had to sit back and wait. The wait may not be over yet but the anticipation clock has started ticking. My 3G phone is already woof-woof-ing for a 3G plan. We’re almost there. See you on the other side!
Article by Harry
Harry has written 453 awesome articles on HarryJerry.com.
About: ...an engineering student, a freelancer, a professional blogger, a loving lover, too shy, an Internet freak....and everything I shouldn't be.
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Tags: 3g, airtel, bsnl, cost, India, mtnl, news, spectrum, tariff, telecom, vodafone
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