Dated: 04-May-2005 02:00 Hrs New Delhi India
I was using Airtel’s Prepaid Mobile Service From 03-Oct-2002 (along
with my first cell phone handset the Panasonic EB-GD 75) to 03-Aug-2004, as MTNL Prepaid
Service was not popular then & after which I discontinued the
service as Mobile Calls became very costly after implementation of
Access Deficit Charge Regime from 1st Feb 2004. Hence I was without a
mobile phone From 03/08/2004 to 24/04/2005.
Also in Airtel
Prepaid Service unless one Purchases a Rs 3350.00 Recharge Card having a
1 year validity the Processing Fees Deduction is Only Rs 300 while as
for monthly recharges it is Rs 150/- Quite steep considering that for
the Rs 150/- Deducted Per month one can use the PCO Booth to make STD
Calls for 62.50 Minutes.
However except for the high call
charges, roaming rentals and roaming calls, the Airtel Prepaid Service
in New Delhi was Quite Reliable and error free and I had no complaints
with it and roaming facility was also superb even in remote places like
Kanniyakumari.
On 21/04/2005, I had gone to deposit my mtnl
landline phone bill and upon a casual enquiry at the Mobile service
counter at the Telephone Exchange, I was pleased to know that MTNL’s
Trump Prepaid mobile Service pack was available across the counter. I
returned home and after reading the reviews on MTNL’s Trump Prepaid
mobile Service, I decided to try the service just for the sake of trying it and
also as I was a very satisfied customer of MTNL’s Landline Service,
especially their caller line identification Internet Service Named
Internet Express.
My Landline has not given me a single breakdown in the past 7 years so MTNL’s Service can be said to commendable on this.
I
also have a fancy and Liking for Govt Departments like Post Office,
Railways, Bharatha Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Income Tax and I enjoy interacting
with them, from time to time due to their babudom and lethargic work
culture and also the no frills simplicity of the staff working in these
offices.However my experience has been very good as these departments
have more human values, consideration, and have fulfilled their social
obligations to the masses in adverse and inhuman working conditions with
much less pay and perks than the private sector who are interested in
fleecing their customers in order to grow their balance sheet sizes and
make their shareholder’s rich.Examples are Tata Indicom, Reliance
Infocomm, Airtel India!
Coming Back to MTNL’s Trump Prepaid
Service I on 25/04/2005, Bought the Prepaid SIM Card From MTNL’s Sanchar
Haat after filling the Required Forms and Attaching the Identity&
Address Proof and PAN Copies. I was allowed to chose any number from a
List of 17 Numbers and got my lucky no.The Behaviour of the MTNL Sanchar
Haat Staff was very Good, and customer Friendly belying all Doubts that
this was a Govt Deptt. Loading the SIM was Hassle Free and immediately
my phone was registered as INA 68 on the MTNL GSM Network with Full 4
Bars of Signal Available all 24 hours.A SMS Message the next minute
informed me that I had Rs 150/- of Talk time free, with every new
connection which is a absolute bargain with 15 Days Validity Limit.
Members
Please note that I live just opposite to the Karol Bagh Telephone
Exchange central Delhi and hence full signal from BTS is available.I
made my 1st Call to Madurai, to inform about the new no’s and the
connection was crystal clear with no voice cracks or disturbance and
billing is error free as written by other members also.I sent SMS
messages locally all at 0.50 ps and all were delivered error
free.However one National Message failed to get delivered mainly due to
problem at the other end.
The service in other Parts of the
city like munirka, green park, nehru place is also good with 3 bar of
signal always available even far away from the exchange tower’s. The
Biggest advantage is the affordability of service as all outgoing local
calls are @ Rs 1.50 per minute and STD @ Rs 2.40 per minute comparable to any MTNL PCO and can be compared to MTNL’s Economy Rs 250.00 per month Landline service.
The
Various Recharge Denominations of MTNL are Quite Generous like the Rs
550.00 Recharge Card giving Rs 400/- of Talk time and 60 days validity.
But the Best is the Rs 2200.00 Recharge Card, having 1600.00 Talk time
and Rs 396.37 as processing charges and rest Rs 203.63 as Service tax
and educational cess with one year validity.Thereby Monthly Commitment
is just Rs 183.33.No Other Landline or mobile Service Gives such freedom
anywhere in India, with such low monthly cost, not even BSNL.
Hence
if one just wants to be connected at all times and use the mobile for
emergency and labour saving voicecalls and sms and not for doing long
hours of Blah! Blah! Blah! Blah! Affordably, without any Frills, Extra
features, Costs then MTNL Trump Prepaid is the way to go.
By
the Success of the Service in the past 5 months since MTNL Restarted
giving connections after expanding capacity, MTNL Trump Has a very
Bright Future and With the onset of the Imminent Merger with BSNL, This
Mobile Service would definitely be a Force to Reckon With by Private
Players. Hence I would advise all new Prepaid mobile service buyer’s to
opt for MTNL Trump prepaid Service as Long as SIM Card’s are available
from MTNL Freely now.
This Situation may not last too long
considering the demand of new connections.Once Purchased continue with
the service irrespective of it’s quality.
Pros:Very Economical
call Charges and Very Generous Recharge Options.Roaming Charges Made
Nil by the Govt while roaming in BSNL Network.
Cons:Coverage Ok within
city limit, better outside Delhi in BSNL Network.
Network Quality:Good Network Up
Most of the times, even if down is not a botheration due to low cost of
calls. Billing:100% Accurate, No Hidden Charges or Abnormal Deductions
Noticed. customer Service:Never needed Help so Far.
To Sum
Up:A Affordable, Nonsense Free, No Frills, Pure vanilla type mobile
service for the matured and a sober Person who also has a Liking towards
Government Departments like myself and against Privatization.A
Vedantist Ideology!
Verdict:Will Continue this Service for
ever without discontinuing it even if I have to change many mobile
handsets in the next few years as long as I am able to make and receive
calls& SMS or till the Govt Shuts it down by itself!
Updated: 03-Dec-2017 Sunday 23:09 hrs!
I
still have my primary # of Dolphin as of 2005 given above! I ported my
3G 2010 Jadhoo USB Dolphin Dongle Internet # for WhatsApp to Vodafone in
December 2013!
Since 15th June 2016 State of Dolphin GSM
Network in Karol Bagh Central Delhi Area is as follows! From Dec 2017
the below mentioned problems have appeared even in Green Park Area of
South Delhi in my Aunt's Phone!
In all Rooms of my house 1/2 kms from Tower 2G pure voice sms Network is 100% dead! I Can't receive or send SMS OTP's in time!
Phone
will lose Tower Signal by itself for long hours without the user
knowing it & callers will get phone is switched off or out of
coverage area! This problem is also OTG On 2G!
Only 3G Works
in 2 Rooms of my home & not in my Room where PC is kept for
netbanking! For 3G Upgraded to a smartphone Samsung J1 4G VoLTE on
advise of Dolphin GSM BTS Engineer but problem solved 75% only! 3 phones
bought on 1 day 23-Feb-2017 @ Rs 6,900 each to continue with misplaced
Patriotism in supporting a Sham loss making Company!
So my primary phone kept far away in another room of my parents where 3G Tower Signal comes to receive OTP & SMS alerts!
But
call clarity, SMS sending speed, 3G Internet speed, is H+ upto 3.50
Mbps, Good/ok for basic work of G Mail, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook
Lite! But the best is to use the 3G Dolphin SIM OTG where there are No
Problems anywhere on 3G BSNL NW PAN India & in Delhi!
In
billing & cost, transparency MTNL Dolphin Rocks! Didn't face a Single
wrong deduction of even 1 Paise in 13 years & never had the need for
customer care support in 12 years!
Sagely Advice: Users
wishing to get new Dolphin prepaid SIM in Delhi buy it only if you are
like me as described in the Review& you can get a Rs 25 new
connection from MTNL!
MTNL doesn't sell Full
Size+Micro+Nano(3-in-1 SIM's) for new connections! Only full size
feature phone SIM's! In 2015 for my Aunt I got a full size SIM for Rs
127(Tariff Plan Type)& after its initial tariff plan expiry got it
exchanged to Micro/Nano SIM in 2016 for Rs 30 @ MTNL Sanchar Haat!
You
will need to get the new Full Size SIM cut or upgraded it to Micro/Nano SIM
after sim activation the next day by paying additional Rs 30.
Buy
Dolphin only if you can afford a Touch Smartphone of Samsung J2 2017 4G
VoLTE or the least Micromax Bharatha 1 4G VoLTE Feature Phone V407
which supports 3G & 2G also.Costs Rs 2,400/-online & offline.
If you can't get a Rs 25 MTNL SIM or can't afford
the Bharatha 1 then buy a Airtel or Vodafone Prepaid SIM & insert it
in any 2G handset of your choice for basic voice & SMS use !
Between the 2, I prefer & use Vodafone as Secondary GSM # since 2010.
In
billing like Dolphin GSM, Vodafone though costly is very
transparent & didn't activate a single VAS or deduct money from my
SIM!
Updated:18-May-2018
I've ported out all my & my
family's Dolphin Prepaid No's to Vodafone & my first Dolphin prepaid #
of 2005 on 04/10-May-2018 for which the above review was written as
MTNL 2G & 3G both have reached a point of no return in my Central
Delhi Area!
MTNL has adopted my sagely advice & is now offering Rs 25+49 prepaid SIM'S in their Sanchar Haats !
Swami Aniruddha !
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