4:06 AM
India has officially entered the age of 3G mobile services, with Tata Docomo launching its 3G service. A number of people are likely to already own 3G-capable tablets and many more have had 3G mobile phones since the year 2007. As such, the anticipation has been intense and we expect the pent-up demand to manifest itself, now that tariff rates and plans available have been revealed.
So you want fast internet access on your mobile device, and are willing to pay the price premium that 3G commands over plain-jane GPRS service. If you are currently a Tata Docomo subscriber or will be one, what plan should you take up? Here are our recommendations.
Step 1: Give it a try-out
Make use of the free 3G offer. At launch time, there was a special offer - 7 days worth of free 3G data services for a limited period. Make use of that if it is still valid in your area. Else, obtain a 7-day trial period instead, which is usually priced low at below Rs. 100. Put the service quality through its paces, see if the speed seems sufficient. Also evaluate whether your kind of usage warrants 3G service and speed at all, in the first place.
Step 2: To go for a calls+data plan, or just data-only?
Simply see how much of talk time you use on a monthly basis. If you pay over Rs. 500 a month on calls anyway and use a GPRS connection sparingly on your phone, then look at 3G plans that bundle voice and data. If you will be using internet services on the move heavily, and will choose your call plan separately, then go for a data-only plan.
Step 3: Picking your plan
We see three sweet-spots in the 3G plans offered by Tata Docomo. All three are applicable to both, prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
a. Charge Rs. 750, data transfer limited, speed 3.6 Mbps up to 500 MB, call minutes worth Rs. 1250.
b. Charge Rs. 1250, data transfer unlimited, speed 3.6 Mbps up to 10 GB (128 Kbps after that), no free call minutes included.
c. Charge Rs. 1500, data transfer unlimited, speed 7.2 Mbps up to 10 GB (128 Kbps after that), no free call minutes included.
Option A is going to be attractive to users who do not expect to use data plans too heavily.
Option B and C are for data-heavy users. Depending on the maximum 3G data speed supported by your mobile phone, you can pick 3.6 Mbps or double that to 7.2 Mbps.
See details of all 3G plans on offer by Tata Docomo. Email us your responses and opinions.
So you want fast internet access on your mobile device, and are willing to pay the price premium that 3G commands over plain-jane GPRS service. If you are currently a Tata Docomo subscriber or will be one, what plan should you take up? Here are our recommendations.
Step 1: Give it a try-out
Make use of the free 3G offer. At launch time, there was a special offer - 7 days worth of free 3G data services for a limited period. Make use of that if it is still valid in your area. Else, obtain a 7-day trial period instead, which is usually priced low at below Rs. 100. Put the service quality through its paces, see if the speed seems sufficient. Also evaluate whether your kind of usage warrants 3G service and speed at all, in the first place.
Step 2: To go for a calls+data plan, or just data-only?
Simply see how much of talk time you use on a monthly basis. If you pay over Rs. 500 a month on calls anyway and use a GPRS connection sparingly on your phone, then look at 3G plans that bundle voice and data. If you will be using internet services on the move heavily, and will choose your call plan separately, then go for a data-only plan.
Step 3: Picking your plan
We see three sweet-spots in the 3G plans offered by Tata Docomo. All three are applicable to both, prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
a. Charge Rs. 750, data transfer limited, speed 3.6 Mbps up to 500 MB, call minutes worth Rs. 1250.
b. Charge Rs. 1250, data transfer unlimited, speed 3.6 Mbps up to 10 GB (128 Kbps after that), no free call minutes included.
c. Charge Rs. 1500, data transfer unlimited, speed 7.2 Mbps up to 10 GB (128 Kbps after that), no free call minutes included.
Option A is going to be attractive to users who do not expect to use data plans too heavily.
Option B and C are for data-heavy users. Depending on the maximum 3G data speed supported by your mobile phone, you can pick 3.6 Mbps or double that to 7.2 Mbps.
See details of all 3G plans on offer by Tata Docomo. Email us your responses and opinions.
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