All of this is based upon actual events and I was a user of MTNL( rather a forced one) not because MTNL is the best or they have Unbelievable Speeds or Unmatched Service, the simple reason was MTNL was considered an affordable alternative to my airtel 3g USB dongle which was extremely fast and brilliant but heavy on my pocket.
Now For those who arent aware of MTNL; its a Telecom Service Provider(so as they claim lol) providing 3G LANDLINE And Broadband service to entire Delhi Region.
Lets start with the INTERNET SPEED . I shall give you an example to show how MTNL progresses with the changing needs and requirement of time.
I first saw MTNL Broadband at 2mbps, in class 7th or 8th, NOW im just outta college and MTNL has upgraded to 4 mbps in my area in the last 8 Years. Talk about keeping up!
Im not going to talk about speeds of other service providers as itll be too harsh on MTNL
Secondly, CONNECTION RELIABILITY . Now lets say for example you just got back from work and wanted to browse and watch youtube on the internet, the internet speed fluctuates and youll get some drops and you’ll be fine but so is not the case with MTNL, cause once it DROPS it just Drops. You can wait on it or if youre getting really anxious you could pray to god.
PRAY TO GOD? You may ask why not just call up MTNL for help or customer support? My friend there is NO such thing as CUSTOMER support or Service in MTNL.
Even the gods be like " bhagwaan bhalla kare tumarah".
Its that terrible . Now ive given it two stars as most of the times uptil 4 months back the speed was consistent at 2 mbps, so one extra point for being consistently terrible.
Thirdly and lastly, SERVICE .
Like I said there is NO word as SERVICE in MTNL’s dictionary. Im not saying government owned subsidaries are bad but MTNL is perhaps the Abhishek Bachchan of em all. The GURU of the worst.
Lets say for example your Line breaks down, (this is based on true events), now youll inquire from nearby neighbors if their lines are working, Now you get to know they are. The next logical step would be to complain and mind you MTNL has a good procedure for registering complain online. Of course Im not cribbing about it, its simple and fast to do so.
BUT its not the same when it comes to implmentation . You can wait upto the next world war or the next time a MTNL representative calls you(which will NEVER happen) and then you can peacfully die knowing MTNL never ever even saw you complain.
Now coming to PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, my life was simple . Slow Painful internet and the inability to migrate to a different provider due to location:)
One Fine day my internet decide to play a game with me and It just died. No ADSL Signal, No telephone. Now I got to know this was due to repair work of lines and some people were affected . Turned out it was going to take 15-20 days to fix it and I registered a complaint And other important point was that this information came to me after 2 repeated visits to MTNL office because apparently the service isnt capable of communicating information regarding what’s going on in MTNL.
Now its been like 3-4 months which is like death in service sector BUT not for MTNL because its FUNDED BY US! Our tax payers money is able to and forced TO sustain this sick( hey by sick as in non profit making and what youre thinking otherwise) company.
Finally I decided to axe it and I couldnt take it anymore. Jio was the savior here as it helped mitigate atleast some of my problems. But MTNL just wouldnt go. They asked me to pay for the months that the line was dead and for the time no phone no internet was provided because according to them they were fixing It.
Now I dont know whats worse the service or the whole process of deactivation. Overall MTNL couldve been great with such wide coverage and customer base it had, it shouldve been the BEST . But our politial masters and incompetent and ridiculous officers ruined it. We talk about improving Air India but we cant fix a small telecom firm or atleast get its service up. I wish someone could for once act instead of all talk in such companies