Hi guys. I’m from Kerala and the major Cellular service providers here are BSNL, BPL, ESCOTEL & Airtel.
When I took my latest Nokia 1100, I was having a BPL connection. I must tell you that I enjoyed using their service till the tax got increased. Till then I was having 1.99/min to any GSM/CDMA phone and 2.49/min to landline.
I even took their happy hours add on service by which I should be getting call charge as low as Re.1/min to any GSM/CDMA/landline. However they changed this rate too when the tax got increased. But according to scheme they explained I had to get three months of that scheme service i.e Re.1/min for 3 months. When I called up customer service, they said nothing can be done. The call charges got hiked up to Rs 2.49/min to GSM/CDMA and 2.99/min to land line. Also their sms charge is way too high Rs1.5/sms.
So then I decided to go for this Airtel MTV card, a great fun packed 32K sim, which is available for Rs.250/- with one month validity. I’ve been using this MTV card for the last 4 months and I never had to pay a buck for sms, because the sms has been always free in this. They do deduct Rs.30/- once in a while from the account, but for a hardcore sms sender like me, it is still a gain. For Rs.30/-, you will get local and national sms free for one month in kerala. For the first month, international sms were free too. I do not know the case now as I’vent tried an international sms after that.
I also got the F&F facility, by which we can call to one local airtel number absolutely free, and the number I have given, is still free even after all these 4 months. So I can always call him and talk for endless hours. :).
So far I must tell, that I’ve used airtel to an extend that I owe them so much. I do send more than 10, 000 sms per month and all free. Earlier the call charges were Rs. 2.49/min to GSM/CDMA and 2.99/min to landline. I do not why but nowadays I’m getting charged only at a rate of 1.49/min to any GSM inside kerala, and all the rest the same.
However, like any service/product, it also have some drawback or limitation. The coverage airtel provides is not that high. I sometimes need to get out of my house to get enough coverage to talk.
One more.. I forgot to tell you guys n gals. Apart from the normal call charge, they do have the reduced night tarrif, which you will get free with the MTV bada sim is that Re.1/min to all GSM/CDMA/land line after 10PM to till 8AM.
Alltogether, AIRTEL is a best companion if you do have a mobile, atleast in KERALA.