Thursday, May 27, 2010

Top 10 tips to choose the Best Mobile Service Provider in India


With the amount of competition that there is amongst mobile service providers, it is but natural that the consumer can get quite confused and overwhelmed while making a choice. Everywhere they look they will see ads that outline interesting offers and schemes. So how does one decide? First, list out the service providers that are available in the country. Once you have done that, evaluate them considering the following:

Kind of network and coverage

One of the initial things that you need to do is decide on whether you want to go with a CDMA or a GSM network. The quality of both calls and surfing the internet is marginally better than a GSM service provider, however when it comes to national and international roaming, GSM wins hands down. The network coverage within the city you live in is also important. All you have to do is ask around and you will know which mobile service provider has the best coverage.

Costs, call plans, value added services and schemes

While most mobile service providers in the country are on par with each other you still need to evaluate the how much they are going to cost you and what is the value for money that you are getting. The factors that you need to consider are the initial costs like security deposit and call costs and rental amounts. In addition to all of these you also need to evaluate the kind of value added services like caller ID and the kind of schemes the service provider comes out with. A little research will help here.

Customer service, brand awareness and online support

Customer service is very important when it comes to choosing a mobile service provider. If a service provider has bad customer service, it will only be an irritant in the long run. Online support is equally important in today’s world. You should be able to access you bill details etc. online if you need too. You might also want to check on how strong the brand is in the country. A strong brand reflects the amount of customers that are backing it.

Prepaid Connection V/s Postpaid Connection- Which is the best?

There have been many debates on this topic and every time the answer is always different. The truth is that whether a prepaid connection works better than a post-paid connection depends entirely on the person using it. This article outlines some of the factors that you should consider in order to figure out which type of connection works best for you.

Do you have a fixed budget to consider?

The best feature of a prepaid SIM card is the fact that you will never spend more than you have. Whenever you top up a prepaid phone you are paying for airtime in advance. This helps you budget better as you have a fixed amount that you can spend on your phone every month. When you have a post-paid connection your bill is generated once a month and you have to pay the entire amount once this is done. Here there is no way of you keeping a track on how much you are spending. However this type of connection works for people who get their phone bills paid by their employers etc.

Do you travel a lot?

A prepaid connection not a practical option for people who travel frequently as it can turn out to be quite an inconvenience. The only reason for this is the fact that you will have to top up an adequate amount of credit before you leave. While most service providers have outlets all over the country and you can top up enough, there is always a chance that you might run out and then you need locate a store that sells phone credit. This will not happen on a post-paid connection.

Are you on vacation?

If you are on vacation, especially in an international country buying a prepaid SIM card from a service provider there will always be the best solution as the roaming rates on your phone will be sky high. With a prepaid SIM you can stay connected at low rates and you can use it just for the time that you need it.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Prepaid Mobile Plans – Choose a Plan That Suites You!

Prepaid mobile plans are ideal for those who want to keep their mobile bills within a budget. Most parents tend to choose plans like these for their teenage kids. However, there are a lot of adults too that find plans of this kind convenient, economical and practical. If you are considering a prepaid plan, here are some tips on how you can choose one that is ideal for you.

Check on the credit rollover policy
As is the case with all prepaid mobile plans, you will be required to top up the credit on your phone every now and then. What you need to be careful of though, is the fact that the credit often comes with an expiry date. If you do not exhaust it by then, you will lose that money. A lot of service providers offer lifetime validity on their credit. It is always best to consider these.

Choose your plan according to your usage
There are plenty of prepaid plans in the market and you need to evaluate them wisely before making a choice. In order to make a wise choice you will first need to evaluate your requirement. For example, if you are going to use your phone for text messages more that phone calls, it might make more sense to opt for a plan that gives you a good deal on the number of messages that you send. Similarly if you are going to use your phone the maximum during the nights or on the weekends, there are plans and special packages for that as well.

Compare service providers
Before you finalize on the prepaid mobile plan that you are going to opt for, a smart thing to do would be to make sure that you have compared the plans from all the service providers in the market. Make sure that you have understood their terms and conditions and that you have read their fine print before you decide to opt for them. A lot of subscribers omit this step in the beginning only to find out that there are a lot of things they did not clarify before signing up with the service provider.