I am using mobile phone since 2003. My journey started with Escotel (now taken over by Idea), then switched to BSNL, Hutch (now Vodafone). I had never used Airtel till I was in my home state and I never even preferred it.
I came to West Bengal in 2007. Our township is located in a very remote area and so the mobile signals are very weak except that of BSNL. I had lost reliability in BSNL so I wanted to choose some other operator. After much research, I opted for Airtel as its signal was OK in the township. Airtel had launched lifetime incoming scheme during that period. And thus I became customer of India’s largest private mobile subscriber network by paying a huge amount of Rs. 999/-. The STD call and SMS rate during that period was Rs.1.50.
Life was moving at the rate of Rs. 1.50/-. Then Airtel came with an offer of reducing call rates to Re. 1/- by recharge of Rs. 97/- (I exactly don’t remember the amount; it may vary) per month. This was in the year 2008.
Finally two years back (in 2009) a new scheme was announced and I was able to further reduce the call rates. With a recharge of Rs. 97/-, my STD call rates became 0.60p and local call rates became 0.50p for one year. The roaming charges were also reduced to 0.80p for STD outgoing, 0.60p for all India Airtel and Local outgoing, & 0.60p for all incoming calls. But this recharge came with a drawback- my lifetime validity was reduced to one year after activating this pack. Though Airtel did not inform me about this catch.
Then an SMS pack was announced, by which I can get 500 SMSs per day for a month by recharge of Rs. 47/-. This pack is still valid. Recharge of Rs. 97/- is also revised and is now available at Rs. 52/- (not sure).
Airtel Plus
First company to launch lifetime validity schemes.
First GSM service provider to launch lifetime validity in Rs 99/- per month.
First company to launch CUG of five friends with reduced call rates.
First company to launch full recharge talktime.
First Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. (source: Wikipedia)
First mobile phone company in the world to outsource everything except marketing, sales and finance. (source: Wikipedia)
Largest cellular service provider in India and fifth largest in the world. (source: Wikipedia)
First Indian private fixed-line services provider.
9. Widest network after BSNL.
Connectivity is awesome and you don’t have to wait for calls to connect.
Biggest subscriber base amongst the private service providers.
Best music tone (signature tune of airtel) among any mobile service providers. Almost all the tones are composed by great musician A R Rehman. It is world’s most downloaded mobile music.
Full talktime on recharges of Rs. 333/-, Rs. 444/-, and Rs. 555/-.
Rarely activate unwanted services.
Very useful 121 services.
Best logo and color combination. (This is my personal choice).
first Indian telecom service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold Certification
Airtel Minus
1. Over professional marketing attitude and excessive spending on advertisements.
Minimum concern of customers.
Costliest call rates and SMS rates.
Charges 50p/ 3mins to talk to customer cares executives.
SMS pack doesn’t work while roaming, and Rs. 1.50/- is deducted for SMS in roaming.
STD call rates in roaming are 0.80p (after STV recharge) that is costliest.
Long queue while calling customer care.
I am using Airtel for more than 4 years. Despite all the negatives, I am still a subscriber of Airtel. I was planning to switch to some other network after MNP, but due to locational constraints I am unable to do so. But yes given a choice with no boundations, I will surely switch over to some other network.
My negative feeling towards Airtel is only because of its exorbitant call/ SMS rates when compared to others. I had discussed in previous reviews that I am mobile maniac, so am having so many mobiles and so many SIMs. As on date I am using Tata Indicom, Tata Docomo, 3 BSNL numbers, Reliance GSM alongwith two Airtel. My family members in UP are using Reliance CDMA, Vodafone, Aircel and Airtel. I have experienced customer service of all the service providers and concluded that customer care of all the service providers is more or less the same.
I have tried to describe positives and negatives of Airtel. Now it is up to you to decide. There are many incidents in last 4 years- some good, some bad but those incidents may affect your decisions so am not discussing. I have tried to write an impartial review so as to help Msians.
Every service provider has his own positives and negatives. The question is how to select better evil.
(The call rates described above are for West Bengal region and may vary in other regions.)