The competition in cell service providers has reached a new height. Thanks to Tata Indicom for starting it 
Their new scheme costing 2500 gave 2 years’ validity and consequently incoming calls for 2 years without recharging. This caused panic within other CDMA/GSM cell operators and windfall for Tata. It increased its market share manifold (although it still remains quite low comparatively).
Reliance came up with its own schemes :roll:. Orange (now Hutch) in Mumbai came with a recharge of Rs. 999/- that gave 1 year’s validity (so incoming calls for 1 year) and talktime of Rs. 500/-. Thats pretty reasonable. But there still was some scope of reductions and Airtel came up with a life time validity package for Rs. 999/-. (Note: No details or direct links from Airtel site is available at present. The site seems to be under upgrade 
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Hutch in a span of few days matched it with Hutch chalta rahe. Only thing that one needs to do is rechrge it once in 6 months, even if it is with as low recharge as Rs. 10 in case of Hutch.
I am pretty impressed. Chrages in India is one of lowest in the world and we are still experiencing further reduction!! This is what competition can do. Now once someone spends Rs. 999/- he can remain mobile by spending only Rs. 20/- in a year! Is there any more scope for reduction? Only time will tell. But the new regime of CPP (Calling Party Pays, i.e. free incoming) that was introduced some years ago has done wonders for the cell penetration. Today, I saw a BMC sweeper on the road talking on his cell! The telecom revoultion seems to have arrived 
December 27th, 2005 at 2:10 pm
And you cannot avail of any special offer on lifetime package too… Its only good for those who use mobile for incoming calls only ..
December 28th, 2005 at 5:00 am
Per call rates in Reliance may be cheaper, but what about the fixed monthly charges? How much are they? How many calls do I need to make it in a month @ 0.8 to be at an advantage over calls @ 1.8?
And think about the people who don’t have a phone (not even a landline). For example, I have now given a cell to our driver. It makes it so damn convenient for me! I don’t care whether he gets to make any calls or not. All that matters is that now I can contact him anytime from anywhere! Even his family is happy. They can simply go to a PCO and speak to him! In my opinion, these new schemes have increased connectivity and convenience.
December 28th, 2005 at 8:27 am
But my Cellone rocks! It has the cheapest rates than any operator in INDIA.
Jai Cellone
December 29th, 2005 at 5:26 am