Discussion General Discussions about Indian Wireless Telecom Services

[Shark]

Today Rajasthan Government released a press release on the Sim Cards of Free Tablet scheme.
The Fun Fact is all these Telecom companies giving 3 Years internet connectivity + Sim Card at just 89 ruppees to Government.

 

[Abhinav]

Today Rajasthan Government released a press release on the Sim Cards of Free Tablet scheme.
The Fun Fact is all these Telecom companies giving 3 Years internet connectivity + Sim Card at just 89 ruppees to Government.

Companies are not giving it at 89 for 3 years. The government is bearing the cost for eligible students. They would have paid a pre-decided price from tax payers money (Rs 16,000 crores for entire scheme as per some reports) to the respective operators.

 

[Shark]

Companies are not giving it at 89 for 3 years. The government is bearing the cost for eligible students. They would have paid a pre-decided price from tax payers money (Rs 16,000 crores for entire scheme as per some reports) to the respective operators.

I also saying same Telecom companies giving Sim Cards to Government at 89 ruppees per piece with 3 years data. Government will give Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+5G (Around 20000 rupees online). And around 102 Cr given to this whole scheme. (60% RBSE + 40% Government)

 

[RLOA]

Roaming charges within India were scrapped many years ago. Then:

1. Why does the concept of roaming (R symbol on the phone) still exist?
2. Do operators still have different recharge denominations for different circles?
3. Why are separate spectrum auctions conducted for different circles?

 

[kanagadeepan]

Roaming charges within India were scrapped many years ago. Then:

1. Why does the concept of roaming (R symbol on the phone) still exist?
2. Do operators still have different recharge denominations for different circles?
3. Why are separate spectrum auctions conducted for different circles?

Answer for 3 basically answers all three questions. Not every circle is same. Each circle has different population, different levels of economic activity, different terrains, different quantum of available spectrum. For eg: In the circles which are having border with neighboring countries, the defense may need more quantum of spectrum, which makes the spectrum available for telecom purposes to be lesser than other circles. Another example is, circles with more mountainous terrain may need more sub-GHz spectrum for improved coverage, etc. Basically different circles have different needs, bro.

One solution (to much smaller extend) is conducting auction for whole country. But some operators *cough* *cough* VoId *cough* *cough* will want to invest in only few circles or "Priority" circles. They can simply avoid buying spectrum in few circles and save some money.

Answer for 2 : VoId has different recharges for different circles, especially the infamous Rs99 plan. Not sure about others. Jio has almost same plan Pan India (NE, Assam and JK circles have special minimal postpaid plan of Rs10, which is not available in other circles).

Answer 1: Each Telcos will be assigned different MCC Id (not sure about the name) for each circle. So even if there is no charges for roaming, the phone thinks we are in roaming, when that ID of the network changes and hence shows roaming symbol.

 

[TheAndroidFreak]

Jio offers used to be so simple. But not now. People now need special techniques and do hours of research to understand their recent T&C.

Now they are thinking about revenue only. They were giving unlimited 5G on 1599 as well earlier. Now they are not giving on 1999 as well. Why? Because they want to recover investements of 39000 crore on 700Mhz.

 

[Harsha1996]

Now they are thinking about revenue only. They were giving unlimited 5G on 1599 as well earlier. Now they are not giving on 1999 as well. Why? Because they want to recover investements of 39000 crore on 700Mhz.

That’s ok they can charge more but the network is not good
compared to airtel I am not saying airtel is best
Atleast we can make UPI anywhere with airtel network but Jio it doesn’t work completely in some areas that too in cities
Few days back I tried to make a UPI payment using Jio in financial district Hyderabad the PhonePe not able to load with Jio network
Thank god I carried my wallet that day
I was shocked if Jio can’t provide avg network in in financial district infront of Microsoft and wipro like offices How they can charge premium

 

[TheAndroidFreak]

That’s ok they can charge more but the network is not good
compared to airtel I am not saying airtel is best
Atleast we can make UPI anywhere with airtel network but Jio it doesn’t work completely in some areas that too in cities
Few days back I tried to make a UPI payment using Jio in financial district Hyderabad the PhonePe not able to load with Jio network
Thank god I carried my wallet that day
I was shocked if Jio can’t provide avg network in in financial district infront of Microsoft and wipro like offices How they can charge premium

Hyderabad don't have good network of Airtel in each part. Kukatpally didn't have Airtel 4G. My dad faced problems there (He don't want to use Jio ever for some odd reason, we are from Maharashtra, so we all were having Idea as our main postpaid number since 3G era, 4G also we were there even after Jio unlimited 4G offer on 399 for 3 months, Idea was reliable, we didn't get band 41 at one of our house and Airtel were quick to install band 40 in 2019 and we shifted on Airtel, then my brother shifted to Pune and I shifted to Mumbai, there Vi was best and at Pune, indoor coverage was not there, so we shifted to Vi and Jio respectively, mom wanted cheaper option so 1299 unlimited voice calling, we already had 200Mbps FTTH). He took hotspot from Jio person and hence GPay worked. Maybe by 2026, Airtel will be perfect 4G, in my honest opinion.

 

[TheAndroidFreak]

That’s ok they can charge more but the network is not good
compared to airtel I am not saying airtel is best
Atleast we can make UPI anywhere with airtel network but Jio it doesn’t work completely in some areas that too in cities
Few days back I tried to make a UPI payment using Jio in financial district Hyderabad the PhonePe not able to load with Jio network
Thank god I carried my wallet that day
I was shocked if Jio can’t provide avg network in in financial district infront of Microsoft and wipro like offices How they can charge premium

Only Airtel is charging premium in postpaid segment. Many Airtel black users in Mumbai, have shifted back to Airtel prepaid unlimited voice call plans in last two years and ditched their FTTH connections and switched to local cable operators who provide FTTH by taking bandwidth from some other players(Airtel FTTH+Tata Play is top notch in Mumbai, but at 4799 for 1Gbps is too much price for Gigabyte connection). This is bare minimum Jio is asking. 3599 Jio needs to deploy mmwave if they want to increase speeds. I don't mind paying 5999-7999 yearly, if S25U incorporates mmwave in India even for global model.



Note: Apple has degraded modem for international model of 16 Pro Max compared to US version. X71 vs X75. So India will remain least priority for global OEMs. But importantly I believe that S25U won't incorporate mmwave in 2025 as well. Samsung needs to take initiative in order to Jio to deploy mmwave.

 

[TheAndroidFreak]

Hope they launch 5G in Chennai and upgrade all the existing 4G hardwares to latest

Band 1-3 not giving you 50Mbps plus speeds in Chennai? Without band 41, Vi is cease to exist in Chennai and Bangalore. Hyderabad after Band 41 20Mhz has became fantastic network, wherever band 41 is deployed. I wish Vi makes 41 40Mhz PAN India. Their 5G 50Mhz is not sufficient. Even BSNL has 70Mhz and Tejas networks 1Gbps radios. Let's see. Vi more than 5G should focus on 4G+ and 4G coverage. Deploying band 1 and band 41 on many sites will help them a lot. MPCG and Andhra and Kolkata is where they lacking currently.



Airtel despite of load, is the king of Chennai. I wish in 2026, Airtel buys 10Mhz band 3 spectrum of Aircel somehow and makes most out of it. Airtel have to focus on 4G also.