Hello friends, This one goes specially to sweetgirl whose innocent query coaxed me to write this review and to all the others from the commune...
Well, for all those people who have their reservations about the MTNL services, here’s ur opportunity to take a breather... My name’s KeKe and I am no MTNL ka operator, but I am a probable subscriber who has dug out all the details about these services...
To begin with I must say that both the services have a certain level of status quo attached to them...and dolphin is from the upper class!
Dolphin is a service that can be subscribed to a nationwide roamfree...whereas garuda is mumbai specific.
Dolphin comes with the following stipulations... Deposit...3050 for mumbai specific and 5050 for all-India roamfree...this deposit is returnable when one cancels the subscriptions... apart from this there is no other installation charges as such...
Dolphin comes with various other add-on services...all chargable...night speak 10pm to 8am - 25ps Outgoing and incoming. Plus EXTRA as monthly rental.
Caller id-Rs 75 pm, fav nos - Rs 75 per no per month.
All calls taken outside mumbai will be chargable at all- India STD rates. normal call rates if one doesn’t opt for night speak...70ps per 30 secs...incoming and outgoing. Dolphin is a 30secs pulse rate and Garuda is a 3-minute pulse rate. With dolphin, u can get on-the-spot activation and u may use any cell phone model. The documents reqd. for dolphin are...residence proof, and one electricitry/phone bill photocopy...that’s it. And yes...a DD for the amount depending on the scheme u choose. The dolphin also has a Mumbai-Delhi_mumbai call facility chargable at Re.1 per minute flat. This facility has no extra rentals and is available to all Dophin subscribers. There are many more schemes I guess, but memory refuses to get to light at the moment...
Now coming to Garuda...here u got to pay Rs 5000 deposit flat and no two ways about it...if u want to use an instrument of ur choice then u must handover the instrument to the MTNL office who’ll activate it for u in 15 days... and if u choose to go with their instrument there’s a long wait that may take 45-60 days...the deposit is however refundable on cancellation of the subscription...
Now that we’re thru with the specifics, lets get on to the casuals...If u r looking for better range and network then Dolphin is the best option. And anyway, dolphin has all the facilities that orange or bpl provides...including SMS. But Garuda has none...No caller id, no night speak and no roamfree. Garuda is just like the phone we use at home ...just that it’s a mobile device... all incoming calls at Garuda are free and outgoing calls are charged at Rs1.20 per 3 minutes. But the range is very poor and the network IS NEARLYBLANK inside any A/c enclosure...it may or may not be reachable inside an A/c room, restaurant, theatre, etc. and that’s its biggest minus point...
But for those (LIKE ME) who seek economy MORE THAN CLASS...Garuda is a sure winner! And one more thing...whenever there are rains and other such problems due to which the mobile cionnectivity may get hindered...both, Dolphin and Garuda services are disrupted...so I guess...both are but the same... except that one is of the upper class and the other is the normal mumbaikar...
And don’t worry about people saying that garuda is a bulkier piece and that it is the poor man’s mobile...
Following are the names who I personally know, have a Garuda...
Shah Rukh Khan, Vijay Mallya, Bharat Shah, Amitabh Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, Raveena Tandon, Cyrus Broacha, Nikhil Chinnappa and many more celebs...and all of them have the same instrument given by MTNL... Believe it or not...up to u!!! But Garuda’s definitely the second best thing to happen to Mumbai...No points for guessing that the first best thing is KeKe...(Just Kiddin)...Good Day!!!
Pros : both are same...cheap!
Cons: both have problems...range!