Although launched with much fanfare and riding on high expectations, it wasn’t a surprise when Airtel managed to get more than a lakh subscribers within a span of 4 weeks and add to that the advt campaign that said that u won’t have to say ’’hello, hello’’ again, hinting at the call drops, now all too famous with many mumbai cellphone users.
First and the most important thing to note that is Airtel in mumbai works on 1800 GSM. That means many of the handsets, specially the best seller in indian market, the Nokia 5110 and its new avatar 5110i are ruled out. The tradeoff seemed good for me as I was assured of good voice clarity and the perks they were giving (which was soon matched by both Orange and BPL). So, after junking my 5110 for a panasonic GD93, I only realised that there was more to hype than substance. Although the voice clarify was a plus point, the very fact that the signal strength got worst in enclosed places. Even the basement of a place like Regent hotel in Mumbai, one couldn’t pick any signal while obviously BPL and Orange worked there for I could see others merrily talking into their phones. More than that, there is a problem with the sms service. It is VERY UNRELIABLE and if u r the person who sends sms to folks all around the world, BEWARE ! Send at your own risk and don’t be surprised if your girlfriend breaks up with you cause she thinks you never reply to her sms cause in the first place you will never receive them. (A boon to people who want to avoid pesky folks. Blame it on airtel, didn’t get your sms !). So, if you live above the ground level, never go to basements or enclosed cabins, can do without serious sms to keep in touch, this service might be for you. For others there is always the ever dependable Orange which was adjudged the best cellular provider in mumbai recently.