Reliance mobile vs cellcos: It's competition time, folks
RAJESHWARI ADAPPA THAKUR
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2003 07:28:24 AM ]
MUMBAI: A comparison of tariffs of cellular operators and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) shows that the entry barriers are lower in the case of cellular operators but the latter has lower airtime charges.
The three private mobile operators, Hutch, BPL Mobile and Bharti in Mumbai, charge an activation fee of Rs 500 plus a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,000 from new subscribers.
RIM offers two options. One is an unfront payment of Rs 21,000 for a three-year period to become a member of the ‘Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer Club’. This includes a non-refundable upfront payment of Rs 3,000 and a monthly payments of Rs 500 for 36 months.
The second option includes the non-refundable Rs 3,000 (this is common to both plans) and a monthly payment of Rs 600.
The monthly payment of Rs 600 is to be made in the form of post- dated cheques for Rs 1,800 which will be encashed every quarter. A CDMA handset worth Rs 10,500 is provided free along with both options.
The monthly payment of Rs 600 consists of a rental of Rs 240, airtime of Rs 160, financial charges of Rs 100 and ‘club privilege’ charges of Rs 100. The Rs 21,000 upfront payment offer saves the subscriber the monthly financing charges of Rs 100.
Reliance is also charging refundable deposits of Rs 1,000 for those who wish to make only local calls, Rs 2,000 who wish to make STD calls and Rs 3,000 for those who wish to make ISD calls. Thus the minimum upfront payment in case of Reliance is Rs 4,000, consisting of the non-refunable Rs 3,000 and the refundable Rs 1,000 for those who want to make only local calls.
For the Mumbai cellular operators there is usually a non- refundable activation of Rs 500 and a refunable deposit in the range of Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 for ISD and STD calls.
The club privilege payment of Rs 100 in case of Reliance gives its subscribers several benefits like access to content such as news, stocks updates, games, songs, etc. Some of this may be free and in some cases, high discounts would be applicable, besides a 25% discount on Reliance WebWorld membership, according to a brochure. The brochure says that there will be no ISP charge and you can select the content free. But it is not clear whether there will be any charges for downloading this content.
Besides, unlike other cellular operators, Reliance is not offering immediate connectivity (it usually takes two days or so for the cellular operators), since the handsets need to be encoded by the company. Reliance is planning to start charging its subscribers only in April, according to dealer sources.
The Reliance services are expected to start around early March, said dealers.
Other than the Rs 3,000 that will not be refunded, for exits after 90 days, Rs 40 per month for the balance of 36 months will be deducted.
On rentals, Reliance’s charge is lower than cellular operators. Reliance permits rollover of unused minutes within the same quarter. The airtime charges in the case of cellular operators are higher at 75 paise per 30 second than Reliance’s 40 paise per minute for local calls, especially the first 400 minutes. In the case of STD calls, while the first 400 minutes of outgoing calls will be charged at the rate of 40 paise per minute, calls beyond 400 minutes will be charged at the rate of Rs 1.90 paise per minute plus additional ‘off-net operator charges’ charged by other operators, which may work out to 40% cheaper, according to Reliance.
One crucial difference is that for Reliance its low airtime charges are Rs 160 for 400 minutes of airtime (for local STD and ISD calls) while for cellular operators there is no link between tariff and the number of minutes of airtime. Besides, Reliance as part of introductory offer, is offering free SMS, caller identification, voice mail, voice divert, etc. Also, all incoming calls are free on the Reliance network. Cellular operators offer free incoming for calls from their own network.
Reliance also offers a lower pulse rate of 15 seconds as compared to the option of a 30 second or 60 second offered by cellular operators.
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