The choice of the type of service, whether pre-paid or post-paid, depends upon ur needs & likes. All cellular operators differ in the quality of the services rendered by them. Eg: some may provide good coverage, some may provide cheap rates, some may provide good customer service, etc.
Well... right now I’m just gonna give some info on the pre-paid & post-paid services in general & not on the different cellphone operators.
Basically there is no difference in the 2 cards, except for the services available with them.
Pre-Paid Card:
The pre-paid card (pre-paid cellular service) is a great way to control costs. U can always update urself with ur credit info, i.e. knowing how much credits u have spent & the balance available for making calls. There are no deposits to be made. U only have to pay the service rental charges apart from ur talktime.
Services/Facilities
Local, STD & ISD calls can be made.
SMS & Picture Messaging & WAP.
Call Management Services like Caller Line Identification Presentation (CLIP), Call Waiting, Call Hold, Call Divert, Call Conferencing.
Voice Based Services.
PrePaid Roaming
STD/ ISD till the last rupee
ISD Dynamic Lock Service
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post-Paid Card (Billing):
U need to make a deposit (refundable) 1st & some other charges like enrollment fee, rental charges, bill plan charges, activation charges, CLIP charges, package charges, etc. at the time of applying for the service. All ur call & other cellular service usage charges are sent to ur bill address. Incase u delay ur payment for about 1 or 2 months, u don’t face disconnection, but u will after that period. U don’t get disconnected for 1 or 2 months is because whatever amount to were liable to pay will be deducted from ur deposit amount. Later when u pay ur bill, the deposit amount will be restored in ur account.
Services/Facilities
Local calls can be made. (If u opt for having STD or ISD Or both as well, u’ll need to make an additional deposit)
SMS, Picture Messaging & MMS.
GPRS, WAP & Voice Mail. (U will need to activate this service. Activation is FREE)
Call Management Services like Caller Line Identification Presentation (CLIP), Caller Line Identity Restriction (CLIR), Call Waiting, Call Hold, Call Divert, Call Conferencing. (some of the services may need activation)
Voice Based Services.
Roaming (service needs to be activated & requires additional deposit & rental fee)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comparison between Pre-Paid & Post-Paid
Call Charges - post-paid is cheaper than pre-paid.
Services/Facilities - post-paid has more services/facilities than pre-paid.
Roaming - post-paid roaming requires activation, additional deposit & rental fee whereas pre-paid roaming is pre-activated at no extra cost.
Disputes - post-paid may have billing disputes.
Cost - pre-paid is cost effective.
Offers & promotions by cellular operators may make some services cheaper, but after a certain period all rates will be normal or higher. Mostly, cellular operators keep more offers & promotion on the pre-paid service.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advice:
If u are trying/using a particular cellular operator’s services for the 1st time, I suggest u go for pre-paid service & after using it for a few months, if u are satisfied with those services, u can go for post-paid (if u want post-paid), or u can stick to pre-paid.
If u need services like GPRS & MMS, go for post-paid.... But 1st, follow advice #1.
If u wanna lower costs...go for pre-paid.
THE REST IS UP TO U TO GO FOR PRE-PAID OR POST-PAID!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K2