Airtel’s 3G services now available in Hyderabad
Airtel has finally launched their 3G services in the cyber city of Hyderabad in India. This launch was much anticipated as Hyderabad is one of the biggest IT hubs in the country and has the potential of being one of the largest 3G subscriber base in India.
So far, we are getting mixed reactions for Airtel’s 3G performance in other parts of India. It will be interesting to see the performance in Hyderabad.
Airtel launches another useless service – Broadband TV
Airtel has an unprecedented record of offering totally useless and crappy “value added” services to users. Continuing with this tradition, they have recently launched “broadband TV” – a service that lets you watch live TV over your broadband connection.
No, this is NOT their IPTV service. In IPTV, you need a special set top box which makes a separate private connection from your home to the service provider’s servers to get the feed of live TV channels. WIth broadband TV, you will watch the live TV in a browser using your broadband connection – similar to watching a youtube video.
Vodafone launches MiFi device for sharing 3G data over WiFi
Unless you are living in a cave, you must have seen the ads indicating that Vodafone has finally launched their 3G services in India. Since 3G theoretically allows data speeds up to 21.1 Mbps (yes, that’s theoretical, do let us know if you get that speed), there is a possibility of using 3G as your primary broadband connection, provided if you do not download much. 3G USB data sticks only let you use the 3G data on the computer they are plugged into. What if you have more computers in your house? This is where these MiFi devices come into picture.
Airtel 3G offering amazing speed in Delhi/NCR
Ever since I got my number ported to Airtel and got 3G activated for my iPhone 4, I have been trying to measure speed that I can get over the network. Some of my initial analysis can be found in this article. Here, I am going to post some more results at other times of the day & night.
iPhone 4 with iOS 4.3 working with Airtel 3G in India
As soon as Airtel launched their 3G services in Delhi/NCR, I got my number ported from MTNL to Airtel and got the 3G services activated. Since the iPhone 4 is not officially launched in India, it is still not in Airtel’s supported handset list for 3G in India. So, when I tried to activate 3G by sending 3G as sms to 121, I got a reply that my handset is not supported (duh).
I then called up 198 (Airtel’s complaint hotline) and went into the 3G technical help section. I spoke to an executive and told him that I have an iPhone 3GS (which is in their supported handset list). He then activated the 3G services on my number after a few verification questions. After a few minutes, I received the confirmation SMS saying that the services have been activated on my number. After this, I restarted my iPhone 4 and could connect to the Airtel’s 3G network. No APN settings were needed, however, you do need to enable cellular data, 3G and data roaming under Settings -> General -> Network.
Here are my first impressions of Airtel’s 3G network.
MNP in India FTW
I just got my number ported from MTNL to Airtel. The process is smoother than one can expect given the situation of customer service in mobile space in India. I must say that I am extremely happy with the process and can confidently say that this is the result of extensive thought process coupled with a great design and excellent implementation.
The process is simple and is explained in the steps below:
Hong Kong Gets 1Gbps Internet At $26
So you’ve been jealous of your friends in US and Europe who get over 20Mbps connections at affordable rate? Here is something that will make you cry. HKBN, a new and popular broadband provider in Hong Kong, has started a 1Gbps (Yep 1000 Mbps!) broadband connection at $26 (~ 1200 INR). I checked the website and couldn’t find any mentions of FUP or download limits whatsoever.
Here in India, I pay more than that for a 4Mbps connection with a 25 GB usage limit. Any more and Airtel will reduce the speed to a meager 256 Kbps (Yes K).
So how difficult is moving to Hong Kong?
What is Aircel WiFi?
Every time I see the new Aircel WiFi ad (see ahead), I’m so lost in the song that I ignore whatever they are saying. But this time I decided to actually find out what is it and is it any good?
Bharti Airtel to (Finally) launch 3G services in India next week
The country’s biggest private cellular operator, Airtel has announced that they are going to launch their 3G services in a week’s time. This announcement follows the government’s nod to allow 3G video calls which were previously absurdly prevented from being launched.
“We will make the announcement for the commercial launch of our 3G service in next six to seven days,” Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor said.
Airtel secured 3G licenses for 13 out of 22 telecom circles in India in the auction held last year. And the Delhi circle is in that list.
Let’s hope that the launch goes through without any hiccups this time.
Thanks Amit for the tip.
[via TOI]
DoT approves 3G video calling (3G is coming)
3G is coming. As per the latest news, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given a go ahead the operators to launch 3G video calling services in India with an undertaking from every operator that they will provide necessary options to the government to intercept 3G video calls.
A few weeks back, when all the pan india private operators were on the brink of rolling out their 3G services, the DoT intervened and stopped them saying that they cannot allow the commercial launch of 3G services unless they have means to intercept and monitor 3G video calls. It was a total KLPD for both the operators and consumers as everyone was totally geared up for the 3G launch. Even Tata Docomo and Reliance, who had already launched their 3G service before this fiasco were asked to hold off on 3G video calls until further notice.
Let’s hope that there are no more stupid issues now and 3G sees the dawn of the day in India.
[pluggd.in via Business Insider]
