I am from Pune(Maharashtra & Goa telecom Circle) I have been using Idea Cellular for the past three years, I got my first mob in 2005 & had a Hutch card for a couple of weeks, but that was when I said’no thanks’ to Hutch.
Airtel sucks & always has, yes it has attractive offers, but what about the basics? like range, reception, I have never used Airtel & never will, I have heard enough from friends. recently it has gone worst. hate it with passion, I dunno what other problems the airtel users might be facing, there will be for sure.
I did some research at that time & I being a minimalist in such cases, decided to go for Idea, and got a new prepaid card, I was laughed at, since all my friends were on airtel & most had availed Friends scheme.
Yet, I was firm with my decision, never really cared.
I soon got the Promo sms pack, which costs 40rs pm & all local unlimited sms @ 10 paise & national at 30 paise, this is a great scheme, I had a usage of around 500 smses/month, almost all of which were local & a calling of not more than 50rs. Validity was never a problem, since I had the one yr validity.
So that makes it 40+50+50= 140 rs
That was the average monthly expense, a few rupees more or less, but I think thats quite cheap. I feel that if you are a student, sms works quite nicely. I always tried to use the full value top ups or 10 rs, 30 rs top ups, that way you pay less towards the service tax etc
The Home network has always been the strongest point in case of Idea, it rocks in Maharashtra & Goa, The call quality is sharp & clear, and even during festive season or New Year’s you hardly get much congestion, this is THE strongest point of Idea in my opinion. I have never faced a problem regarding any of the below .
here are my ratings:
9.5/10 for call reception
9.5/10 for prompt sms delivery & reception
9/10 for no congestion
9/10 for the home network range
With calls or smses between Idea & other networks I think its the other end that might create call issues & sms delivery issues at times.
I feel these are the basic points that make any network a good network.
Now for the roaming, I have been through most of India in past 3 years & wherever I went, the mobile went as well, the roaming is quite ok in North but its not that good in South since Idea has a weak presence in South, but still, I won’t call it pathetic. Mumbai roaming is also quite fair, not very good but not too bad either.
5.5/10 for roaming.
The Pre-Paid customer care is pathetic, you hardly get connected to the executives, even if you do, the call may get disconnected abruptly for no reason.
3/10 for Customer care
Value added services are far lesser than the other networks, one has very limited choices & almost all cost some money.
5/10 for vas
Recently I have a Idea Corporate post paid card & the call center is very good & billing is also very properly done. Plus all the other network related pros ofcourse.
So, the bottom line is, if you are looking for a good network, you don’t roam much around the country, you are ready to shell out a few extra bucks & you are not the one who depends upon customer care service from time to time then definitely go for Idea. It might just change your life .hehe
Oh & not to mention that the ones who laughed at me before are now crying with their respective service & I am sitting here, happily writing this review.
Overall 8.5/10.