I am a customer of prepaid BPL Mobile, in Kerala circle, in which they were the first to launch the services, some years back. I am from the city of Cochin, Central Kerala. I took prepaid connection only in MAY 2001. When I took the connection the Tariff was like this:
Incoming: Rs. 1.75 per 30 secs. From BPLMobile: Free
Outgoing: Rs. 3.50 per 30 secs + BSNL charges.
To Bpl Mobile numbers: Rs.1.75 per 30 secs only.
Now the tariff is as follows:
Incoming: Rs. 3.50 per minute, From Bpl Mobile: Free
Outgoing: Rs. 3.50 per minute + BSNL Charges, on sundays and after 10pm daily, Rs.1.75 per minute.
SMS: to send: Re. 1 and to recieve: free.
recharge is valid for 1 month and recharge grace period is for 2 months. This is because the expect two new competition from BSNL and Airtel(Bharti Cellular)
I primarily opted for this connection because of 1) Their Quality conscious approach in white goods segment. 2) Their technology partner was US West who had a good brand equity in their area of operation. 3) They were the first to launch prepaid connections in Kerala, swiftly but poorly planned followed by Escotel(Escorts).
Now that BPL has entered in to Understanding with Birla At&T, and Tata Cellular, we can expect some more fireworks to garner new customers as well as to delight and retain existing customers to retard the changeovers.
The value added services include call diverts, toll free calling to customer support center, Commodity rates, SMS Quiz contests, news alerts etc etc.
Compared with their only competitor now, ESCOTEL, there are positive tariff pricing, sms contests, recharge graceperiods, Better coverage and crystal sound clarity irrespective of the handset features, alerts to indicate the charge/period ending, last call duration/ cost intimation, etc etc.
I like their customer services very much, because they are committed to come back to the customer, if they are asked for some information. Regularly they call the customers to check about the satisfaction levels, even though our responses are made in a hurry, they fix up a time to have a weighted responses. They inform by sms and by call regarding tariff changes. In their website we can register out number and if handsets permit, we can services like auctions, new logos, picture messages, ringtones etc etc
During my travel.I have even seen some small town retailers (chemists, grocers, STD Booth owners etc)are sometimes recommending Escotel users to change over to BPL, which indicates that their sales team has done a Commendable work to educate, to compare services and to give incentives to the BPL coupon retailers like Signboards, banners etc etc
Technically, irrespective of the geographical distance between me and the Caller, the clear sound is so inviting to continue the talk. God only knows whether this is because of the Handset Quality, Satellite Quality or the Weather quality.!!!