I have been using BSNL?s Ex-cel Prepaid Card from the day when it launched its service in India. Till today Ex-cel is always been a value for money and the cheapest available prepaid card in India.
New Connection : Going for a ex-cel prepaid those days was very easy. Just rush to your nearest Customer Service Center or SDO Office, fill up the enrollement form, pay the subscription fee and that?s it. You were ready to talk within 10 minutes. But now just for a prepaid connection you have to book it in advance and pay the subscription fee in advance.
There is heavy demand of ex-cel in the market. Which has given a chance to many CEO?s of huge companies to come on the road and sell the prepaid card in Black. Just believe!!! A pre-paid card worth Rs. 220/- (on activation, you get Rs. 50/- talktime valid for one week) is now sold at Rs. 800/- to Rs. 4500/-. Many are forced to purchase that by paying the said amount, as they need cheap service.
Recharge Denominations : Ex-cel prepaid card can be recharged with different recharge denominations starting from Rs. 331, 551, 1102, 2204, and 3306 respectively (Including Service Tax @ 10.2%) with a validity period 30, 45, 120, 180, 365 days respectively. Ex-cel prepaid just not only promises to give the highest call time than other prepaid cards, but it gives. Few months back, we heard that ex-cel prepaid will launch Rs. 70/- and Rs. 150/- recharge vouchers which will be valid for 7 and 15 days respectively. But I think, till now the printer even does not know, when to print the 70 and 150 recharge vouchers.
One of the disadvantage of Ex-cel is that, for example, when u recharge a 331 voucher, you get 30 days valdity and 15 days grace period. If you charge your card after the grace period your total balance is lapsed. BSNL has decided cleverly, they say in their IVRS :- ?Your outgoing calls will be barred 15 days before your Service Expiry date? Your service expires on?? and they count the Validity + Grace which is 45 days.
People think that the service expiry date is 45 days and they will additionally get 15 days grace period. Suppose, by mistake u have mistaken\confuses with the grace period or if you are a fresher in ex-cel prepaid, and u think that 45 is the validity period and you will then again get 15 days grace period, you r then caught in the BSNL?s fools club, and u will loose all your balance. There is nobody there to listen your feelings and no one is there to help you. You have to start a new session of Balance.
Call Charges : Attractive Call charges with 1 minute pulse rate. No hidden costs with the call charges. Local calls to Mobile can be done at Rs. 0.90 paisa per minute and for Landline & WLL u have to pay Rs. 1.20 paisa per minute. Whereas, in case of STD the calls made to Mobile is Rs.2 per minute and to Landline & WLL is Rs. 2.40 paisa per minute. There is no such details of ISD Calls.
Roaming : With a national roaming, Ex-cel prepaid is a boon to customes. They have their network even in Rural & Urban areas, Hills, Mountains, Basements, Lifts, Rivers and many more areas which a common man haven?t visited till today. I have tested their network in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka. The netowork was excellent while Roaming. The call charges while roaming is affordable to every customer. Incoming & Outgoing calls & SMS are allowed while roaming.
Fun & Timepass : No such fun & timepass services. Simple prepaid card with no show offs. This is the reason for their cheap service. You can only see the area on the screen of your mobile (Not every area, just the areas where their towers are installed).
Customer Service : Mostly keeps men in customer service. Helps to solve out basic problems, Problems based on sim replacement and other heavy services are not solved.
Advantages : No hidden call charges, Works in congested areas, Calls made to BSNL landline or Cellone and Ex-cel pre-paid connects quickly.
Disadvantages : Signal is week in buildings. Additional 40paise is charged for delivery reports of SMS. Poor Customer Service (one says go to SDO office, other says go to Mobile Section). Fill up forms for activating each service (GPRS, MMS). No additional portal for downloading Picture messages and ringtones, Mostly network is busy in day time (as people use their prepaid as landline). Netowork Congestion, Voice clarity is low while talking (double sounds arises). No 3 digit number services work like Railway 131. No change in IVRS of 123 (same from the beginning, Ears have been boared to hear the same). No advertisements for special launched services (Website is the only source).
A Fact : As I had purchased ex-cel prepaid during its launch, my sim card is now bend in the middle (where the mobile pins touch the sim surface for data), but due to poor customer service I am not able to replace the sim card. Think this, if for replacing the sim, they mix your blood and sweat then think of that when your sim will be stolen and u will claim for a new sim (What will they tell you to do?) They will tell you to rush throughout the globe. At that time its better to go for a new connection (Not ex-cel as the sim are out of stock, but for other Mobile Operators)
Conclusion : Cheap Mobile Service with Good Coverage. If someone wants network with cheap service, then go for Ex-cel but you have to compromise on their service. And for others who need fun on mobile and have lots of money to spend, then go for other mobile network providers.