Mobile is the need of the Metro cities, you can find people without Computers but you would rarely see someone without a phone. Now, in cities like Delhi there are multiple providers and at times with so many lucrative offers all around its hard to decide, which one to opt for?
I have been using mobile for around 10 years in Delhi, though there are people who had been using it for more but I have used almost all the network providers. One or Two whatever are still not used, would be tested in next 2 years. I am sharing my experience with all so that you can decide the best network provider for you along with the customer service they provide.
1) Airtel: was my first SIM provider and it was a postpaid plan. Currently, I am using both prepaid & postpaid plans from Airtel, which is fine in terms of network. Most of the time in Delhi/NCR (Though not yet tested in Noida but works fine in Gurgaon), I get a pretty good network. Though at times I do get call cuts and no voice scenarios, which should not be there if they wish to be in business as with the availability of more high speed internet, any Mobile App like WhatsApp can thrash the voice business as well.
I have also used Airtel 3G, which is far better than the 3G provided by Vodafone as most of the time I get "E Sign" in Vodafone, which I am currently using. In Airtel as well, I used to get "The E Sign" at times, which is beyond my understanding. The world is enjoying 4G and in a country like India where we have so many available ISPs, we don't get 3G while traveling. If I am at home then I do get 3G but that is not the purpose of taking a mobile internet.
The customer service of Airtel is like most of the other customer service available around "Pathetic". Specially when they don't give an option over the IVR to talk directly to a Customer Service Representative. You have to experiment the complete IVR and then keep playing around options say 3G, iPhone etc to get an option, when you can actually press a button to speak to the agent. Luckily, I got to know about dialing 198 (You can dial it on any provider to register your complains) and it gives the option to speak to a representative. I am not sure if its a TRAI guideline lolz but its difficult to get the option in any of the network provider.
But I must say that recently or in last couple of years, the customer service has improved, at least the availability to communicate with someone. They do have a Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AirtelIndia where you can register a complain or to the twitter handle: https://twitter.com/airtelindia and they do respond or call you to know the problem. If few things would be taken care then it can be the number one mobile network provider though its listed at number one as it was my first one.
The web interface of Airtel to manage your account is nice, where you can easily manage your subscriptions and payments. As such, I never faced any issues with their site and its interface as its properly designed and tested.
2) Hutch aka Vodafone: I still miss the Hutch days with the Pink design and the cute Puppy. It was my second provider and still I have a number from them that says Hutch. Later on, it was purchased by Vodafone and I still continued with them with another Postpaid plan. The only reason I converted my postpaid plan to a prepaid one because of less number of Vodafone outlets available and I used to wait in queue just to hear their useless replies. But now they have improved in terms of outlet available everywhere.
The network of Vodafone is fine again as per my experience in Delhi/NCR excluding Noida as of now. I must say if I talk about the voice network then to me its better in comparison to Airtel. My primary number in a dual sim phone is Vodafone and the secondary one is from Airtel. Again call cuts and no voice situations are there which are not expected in this technical era but still for me its much less than Airtel.
My postpaid plan came with a 3G scheme however I miss Airtel 3G. As soon as I would switch to a dual SIM 3G phone then Airtel would be the primary choice as Vodafone still gives me "the E sign" at my home too, however in Airtel that was the case while traveling only.
The customer service of Vodafone is again similar as discussed above from Airtel. The same IVR problem and phone cuts around night time. The good thing is they have a chat support:http://www.vodafone.in/help-support/live-chat as well, for the Postpaid customers which is my primary method to contact them, now. However, the response time is again slow at times and the most pathetic thing is:if your response time is more than 2 minutes then they disconnect the chat.Its quite frustrating at times with their replies over chat but thanks to support people like "Sumedh" & ""Raaina" that I am still with Vodafone else it was quite a bad experience with their overall support.
The web interface is again poorly designed as you can' t scroll properly left or right, be it any browser of the world. It should be properly tested and verified by the designers so that people like me who spend their life over the web can do a bit of self help instead of disturbing them.
3) Tata Indicom: Eight years ago, I also got a postpaid plan from them when they were establishing in Delhi. That time they were not popular because of their network however I enjoyed their service even if I used to travel to Gurgaon. They were providing very cheap and nice headsets in those days costing between Rs. 300-500 and I never faced any network issue. Later on, I had to quite their service as got a bill glitch with them and then finally decided to discontinue. However, in offices they were still popular because of the offered plans.
Recently, no experience with them but still as per the locality and discussion, you can give it a try.
4) Aircel: was launched around 4 years back in Delhi, atleast when I came to know about it. I liked their plans and ported my 2 Airtel numbers to Aircel. It was the first provider to start the service of subscribing to Value Added Plans using your account balance. Prior to their launch, we used to opt for separate recharges for different services from internet pack to STD packs.
Initially, they were fine with limited stores but when there was requirement to increase their number of stores then also they didn't and finally, they are at the verge of closing their stores. They were offering pretty good recharge options where I used to get much more than the recharge value along with few free SMS, however without a proper network nothing is of use. They started with nice network though not sure what happened and later on their network started giving issues.
As of now, I only have 1 number from them that too would be converted soon to Airtel, once the balance is finished.
5) Reliance: has one of the best customer service that I have ever experienced over the phone. Its not only about Reliance, as per my experience any customer service that was routed to Mumbai Call Center, gave me the same experience. For me their voice service and 3G dongle both worked fine. Though, actively I am not using any of their service but that is just a co-incident, no bad experience yet with them.
I have also heard that they have launched a SIM where in 10k one can get unlimited Calls, SMS and 3G for 1 year. Many people in my office are using the same and lets see when I get to use the same.
6) Idea: Seriously, I have no idea about their network and services in Delhi, I have used it in another state and it was pretty fine there even 12 years back. I am still looking to buy a premium number from Idea and then would update this part regarding their network and service. Initially as per the verbatim, they were struggling for network in Delhi but heard that they have improved a lot.
Personally, I like the advertisement from Idea specially of Junior Bachan, He has helped them a lot in the overall marketing of the company or whomsoever created those amazing Ads. Hope you use it soon to experience an Idea.
Overall, its a fine experience with all the mobile network providers. Few things that I would like to be focused from all of them or TRAI needs to monitor closely:
1) Customer Service should improve with prompt resolution. All of them should be easily reachable without scratching the head, no disconnect should be there specially when they have started charging 50P/3Minute. Incase the call gets disconnected then they should have a call back feature as supported by Kotak Bank.
2) They should work in improving the availability of network so that there shouldn't be any voice or call cuts. They have to indeed, if they really want to be in business unlike their SMS business, but I would like to see some frequent improvements. The day Google Internet would be available everywhere in India then the providers would repent for sure.
PS: If you are not happy with your network service provider then you can port your number to other providers. In order to go for Mobile Number Porting, simply send an SMS "PORT YourMobileNumber" to 1900. You would get a porting code valid for 14 days, which you can provide to the new provider along with necessary documents. However, if you are using a prepaid plan then make sure that you use the available balance as it won't be transferred to the new provider.
I have been using mobile for around 10 years in Delhi, though there are people who had been using it for more but I have used almost all the network providers. One or Two whatever are still not used, would be tested in next 2 years. I am sharing my experience with all so that you can decide the best network provider for you along with the customer service they provide.
1) Airtel: was my first SIM provider and it was a postpaid plan. Currently, I am using both prepaid & postpaid plans from Airtel, which is fine in terms of network. Most of the time in Delhi/NCR (Though not yet tested in Noida but works fine in Gurgaon), I get a pretty good network. Though at times I do get call cuts and no voice scenarios, which should not be there if they wish to be in business as with the availability of more high speed internet, any Mobile App like WhatsApp can thrash the voice business as well.
I have also used Airtel 3G, which is far better than the 3G provided by Vodafone as most of the time I get "E Sign" in Vodafone, which I am currently using. In Airtel as well, I used to get "The E Sign" at times, which is beyond my understanding. The world is enjoying 4G and in a country like India where we have so many available ISPs, we don't get 3G while traveling. If I am at home then I do get 3G but that is not the purpose of taking a mobile internet.
The customer service of Airtel is like most of the other customer service available around "Pathetic". Specially when they don't give an option over the IVR to talk directly to a Customer Service Representative. You have to experiment the complete IVR and then keep playing around options say 3G, iPhone etc to get an option, when you can actually press a button to speak to the agent. Luckily, I got to know about dialing 198 (You can dial it on any provider to register your complains) and it gives the option to speak to a representative. I am not sure if its a TRAI guideline lolz but its difficult to get the option in any of the network provider.
But I must say that recently or in last couple of years, the customer service has improved, at least the availability to communicate with someone. They do have a Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AirtelIndia where you can register a complain or to the twitter handle: https://twitter.com/airtelindia and they do respond or call you to know the problem. If few things would be taken care then it can be the number one mobile network provider though its listed at number one as it was my first one.
The web interface of Airtel to manage your account is nice, where you can easily manage your subscriptions and payments. As such, I never faced any issues with their site and its interface as its properly designed and tested.
2) Hutch aka Vodafone: I still miss the Hutch days with the Pink design and the cute Puppy. It was my second provider and still I have a number from them that says Hutch. Later on, it was purchased by Vodafone and I still continued with them with another Postpaid plan. The only reason I converted my postpaid plan to a prepaid one because of less number of Vodafone outlets available and I used to wait in queue just to hear their useless replies. But now they have improved in terms of outlet available everywhere.
The network of Vodafone is fine again as per my experience in Delhi/NCR excluding Noida as of now. I must say if I talk about the voice network then to me its better in comparison to Airtel. My primary number in a dual sim phone is Vodafone and the secondary one is from Airtel. Again call cuts and no voice situations are there which are not expected in this technical era but still for me its much less than Airtel.
My postpaid plan came with a 3G scheme however I miss Airtel 3G. As soon as I would switch to a dual SIM 3G phone then Airtel would be the primary choice as Vodafone still gives me "the E sign" at my home too, however in Airtel that was the case while traveling only.
The customer service of Vodafone is again similar as discussed above from Airtel. The same IVR problem and phone cuts around night time. The good thing is they have a chat support:http://www.vodafone.in/help-support/live-chat as well, for the Postpaid customers which is my primary method to contact them, now. However, the response time is again slow at times and the most pathetic thing is:if your response time is more than 2 minutes then they disconnect the chat.Its quite frustrating at times with their replies over chat but thanks to support people like "Sumedh" & ""Raaina" that I am still with Vodafone else it was quite a bad experience with their overall support.
The web interface is again poorly designed as you can' t scroll properly left or right, be it any browser of the world. It should be properly tested and verified by the designers so that people like me who spend their life over the web can do a bit of self help instead of disturbing them.
3) Tata Indicom: Eight years ago, I also got a postpaid plan from them when they were establishing in Delhi. That time they were not popular because of their network however I enjoyed their service even if I used to travel to Gurgaon. They were providing very cheap and nice headsets in those days costing between Rs. 300-500 and I never faced any network issue. Later on, I had to quite their service as got a bill glitch with them and then finally decided to discontinue. However, in offices they were still popular because of the offered plans.
Recently, no experience with them but still as per the locality and discussion, you can give it a try.
4) Aircel: was launched around 4 years back in Delhi, atleast when I came to know about it. I liked their plans and ported my 2 Airtel numbers to Aircel. It was the first provider to start the service of subscribing to Value Added Plans using your account balance. Prior to their launch, we used to opt for separate recharges for different services from internet pack to STD packs.
Initially, they were fine with limited stores but when there was requirement to increase their number of stores then also they didn't and finally, they are at the verge of closing their stores. They were offering pretty good recharge options where I used to get much more than the recharge value along with few free SMS, however without a proper network nothing is of use. They started with nice network though not sure what happened and later on their network started giving issues.
As of now, I only have 1 number from them that too would be converted soon to Airtel, once the balance is finished.
5) Reliance: has one of the best customer service that I have ever experienced over the phone. Its not only about Reliance, as per my experience any customer service that was routed to Mumbai Call Center, gave me the same experience. For me their voice service and 3G dongle both worked fine. Though, actively I am not using any of their service but that is just a co-incident, no bad experience yet with them.
I have also heard that they have launched a SIM where in 10k one can get unlimited Calls, SMS and 3G for 1 year. Many people in my office are using the same and lets see when I get to use the same.
6) Idea: Seriously, I have no idea about their network and services in Delhi, I have used it in another state and it was pretty fine there even 12 years back. I am still looking to buy a premium number from Idea and then would update this part regarding their network and service. Initially as per the verbatim, they were struggling for network in Delhi but heard that they have improved a lot.
Personally, I like the advertisement from Idea specially of Junior Bachan, He has helped them a lot in the overall marketing of the company or whomsoever created those amazing Ads. Hope you use it soon to experience an Idea.
Overall, its a fine experience with all the mobile network providers. Few things that I would like to be focused from all of them or TRAI needs to monitor closely:
1) Customer Service should improve with prompt resolution. All of them should be easily reachable without scratching the head, no disconnect should be there specially when they have started charging 50P/3Minute. Incase the call gets disconnected then they should have a call back feature as supported by Kotak Bank.
2) They should work in improving the availability of network so that there shouldn't be any voice or call cuts. They have to indeed, if they really want to be in business unlike their SMS business, but I would like to see some frequent improvements. The day Google Internet would be available everywhere in India then the providers would repent for sure.
PS: If you are not happy with your network service provider then you can port your number to other providers. In order to go for Mobile Number Porting, simply send an SMS "PORT YourMobileNumber" to 1900. You would get a porting code valid for 14 days, which you can provide to the new provider along with necessary documents. However, if you are using a prepaid plan then make sure that you use the available balance as it won't be transferred to the new provider.
