Tata GSM, anyone? Choose your mobile service provider wisely.

Tata Tele is also planning of launching its own GSM services in late January or Mid February.

Reliance has already mopped up a huge crowd for its own GSM service, with a pathetic network [Read Reliance GSM Network Quality (Review) ]

Lets see what Tata’s  come up with.  It would interesting to see how all these would add up for Customer. The Customer would be confused with so many players to choose from. The total tally for Mumbai would be 7. These are Reliance, BPL, Vodafone, MTNL, Airtel, Idea, Tata. As for CDMA, TATA (including Virgin) and Reliance are the only service providers. No new service provider are in for CDMA.

The most important parameter I would rate any service provider is a combination of Service Quality with decent staff and Price at which they provide the service.

So, here is the survey to find out the Best of Mumbai’s (Maharashtra) Telecom Companies’ Services.

Vodafone

Vodafone scores high on the Customer service front, though its on the decline from earlier when they were Orange and Hutch. However, in cost, it would score low and their network is only best of the rest. Network congestion has been a problem area for Vodafone for some time now, and call drops increasing by the day.

Airtel

Airtel offers a great combination of packages with cheap offers. Its probably best used for GPRS which they offer @ Rs. 15 per day. But the customer service is the worst I have faced. To top it all, a week network makes it the most offensive. The recent survey tells that Airtel does not meet the service quality benchmark set by TRAI this year, citing huge number of call drops.

MTNL

MTNL on the contrary offers a good mixture of both, but does not supersede any private player on either fronts. Network remains a good point, but coverage in most areas not too good.

Idea

Idea has good customer service, and average plans for customers. Network remains a sore point for Idea. Abhishek has failed to entice users to Idea in Mumbai. They need to grow their network coverage.

BPL

The fate of this company, once with the best network in Mumbai, remains to be in doldrums. BPL today is very shabby, ultra cheap and a bad customer care. It still has the good network they had always but it is now time to increase coverage area. Call drops have been few. They have enticed the young with a young image and probably are living up to their expectations to an extent. But the traditional users of BPL have been the oldies who had a strong brand recall for BPL as they had for Sony.

Tata & Virgin

This is a company which is backed by a trusted brand. Tata has been on the move, and slowly and surely, they have moved up the ladder. They are not in for a dog fight. Their fares are low, and offer a superior customer services in Virgin guise, over and above what Vodafone offers. Network is good and call drops are few. Definitely, my choice of  service provider. Only let down, the handsets offered are cheap and basic. Need to have a vast collection of handsets, like Reliance does.

Reliance CDMA and GSM

Reliance CDMA offers the best network in CDMA, betters Vodafone by a good margin. The availability of multiple handset choice with below average (if not worse) customer service is what its all about. Reliance plans and packages are good. The free calling between Reliance to Reliance is an awesome scheme. Every other operator has failed to put up such an alternative, of course which comes at a cost or 799 INR recharge. Good network coverage across India, and good packages for Data cards.

Tata Indicom CDMA

Perhaps, the best bet of all, this is a real tough call to make. Reliance has already triumphed on most parameters, but when it comes to Trust and Quality, Tata Indicom leaves Reliance behind by a whisker. Sure, network of Reliance is better than Tata’s, call drops on Tata network more or less as same as that of Reliance. If you are a traveler across India frequently, you should think twice going for a Tata. The corporate choice for Data cards, Tata offers the best data card packages around.

Summing it up

So, in the end it all boils down to who we should trust our money with! A provider can be chosen on basis your needs. If you a need a no nonsense, affordable service provider, TATA in Virgin guise has to be your choice. It gives you your basic communication needs a full satisfaction. It also tops on the charts of the Service Quality benchmark set by TRAI

For more than basic use of a mobile, trust Reliance in CDMA, And in GSM, Vodafone. Here goes the order.

Tata’s have truly lived up their hype, trust people put into.

1. Virgin Mobile (Tata CDMA)
2. Tata Indicom CDMA
3. Reliance CDMA

In GSM

1. Vodafone
2. MTNL
3. BPL
4. Reliance & Airtel
5. Idea

Overall, Tatas emerge winner. Virgin is the brand you need to look for. If you need some thing more than virgin, go for Tata Indicom or Reliance. This stands true for both the GSM & CDMA. It seems CDMA is winning the race for quality and cost.

Good luck for your choice. Share your exprience with me. Post a comment here.