Reader Speaks: Uninor Ignores 2G Data Services

I am Ranadeep from Kolkata using Uninor for around 1 year. I am a student and since Uninor is providing cheap onnet calls, affordable SMS packs I chose it over other operators.

I am following Telecomtalk very closely for a long time; recently I came across an article – ‘Can Uninor Sustain in India?’ saying Uninor is not concentrating on data business.

When it was published I was not very much bothered about data services by Uninor. Two weeks back I bought Samsung Galaxy Smartphone and recharged with Rs 90 for 6GB GPRS data.

Since I recharged this GPRS pack valid for 30 days, I find several problems with Uninor GPRS/EDGE.

1. Uninor website does not mention daily cap of 200 MB. In spite of that Uninor website mentions 6GB/1.4GB on STV90/STV24. This simply misleads users.

2. Uninor GPRS is too slow all the time. I heard from one of my friends who is still a Uninor customer, Uninor earlier used to offer great GPRS/EDGE speed (30kBps+), and now for some unknown reason Uninor EDGE is now totally gone crazy (5-12kBps).

3. Frequent disconnection at evening hours: In most of days I find that there is frequent disconnection during and after this session of connection and disconnection there remains a session while internet connection will be established but no data is transferred.

Ranadeep

4. With Opera Mini Next I can not use Uninor EDGE, though network diagnostic saying internet connection is there, no page was loaded by Opera Mini Next. I tried with Tata Docomo GSM and Virgin Mobile GSM – both cases Opera Mini Next was able to load pages in jiffy.

5. This is not related to Uninor GPRS, but it proves worthlessness of Uninor customer care. Uninor shows off VAS offers as flash messages, it is a trap where you can fell prey by just selecting ‘Ok’ by mistake. It happened with me, and I tried to call customer care and resolve, but the person over phone told me that the balance deduction was due to a phone call made from my mobile no. at a rate of Rs16/min.

Well now the point is now I am thinking to use another operator for 2G data (3G data is costly for me) and keep Uninor as a connection to make onnet calls and send SMS.

Telecomtalk’s Take: We told earlier Uninor cannot just be poor man’s connection to make calls only. Demand of data is going high and high, and still Telenor has not expressed wish to become a part of India’s interenet revolution – it does not sound good for Uninor. Right now users like to do their doings on the move at an affordable rate, but services should be usable one.

Uninor adds a record 3 lac customers in 2 days

While Uninor awaits clarity on the new mechanism by which new licenses will be awarded, the company has responded to the license ruling by adding 3 lac customers in one weekend.

This is the highest weekend subscriber addition ever for Uninor.Since the launch of its services, Uninor has competed successfully in all its commercial circles, adding more subscriber than any other mobile operator in India in 2011.

In Karnataka, 8.5 lac customers chose Uninor last year, more than many established operators in the state.Competition has delivered affordable tariffs and better quality services for Indian customers.

The recent developments have energized Uninor like never before. Over the past few days, thousands of Uninor employees have stormed the market, registering their presence and assuring retailers and customers that Uninor services are continuing.

India Adds 7.55 Million GSM Subscribers in December 2011– IDEA Leads

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) today released India’s ‘GSM Subscriber Figures for December 2011. Idea Cellular the most preferred MNP operator in the country once again tops in the new subscriber additions, added a total of 2.39 million new GSM subscribers followed by Uninor which has added 2.12 million new subscribers in  Dec’ 2011.

According to the data released by COAI total 7.55 million new GSM subscribers added with 1.07% increase from previous month taking the all-India GSM cellular subscriber base to 639.64 million at the end of December 2011.

Among the leading GSM Mobile Service Operators, Vodafone Essar added 0.90 million new customers, boosting its subscriber base 147.74 million. Bharti Airtel notched up 0.96 million new subscribers during the month, taking its total base to 175.65 million. Videocon once again looses 37,334 customers during December 2011.

State run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) manged 4,23,367 new subscribers boosting its subscriber base 92.56 million while AIRCEL increased its base by over 0.68 million customers to take its subscriber base to 61.64 million. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) added just 44,664 new users during the month, boosting its total base to 5.42 million at the end of  Dec’2011.

Please note : COAI GSM Subscriber base does not include the Reliance Communications (Rcom) and Tata Docomo’s GSM subscriber Base (same not submitted to COAI).

Uninor Customers Can Now Spin and win Talktime

If you are a uninor customer and visit the company website uninor.in and keys in basic details you will now be invited to spin the wheel of fortune to win a prize.

The customer stands to win from a host of choices like talk time, SMS, cash back and many more.

A customer will get 5 chances to spin the wheel. Once the customer finalizes on the prize he wants activated, he will be required to keep a note of the ‘prize code’ as shown on the screen.

Customers walking into any Uninor store with this ‘prize code’ will immediately have their prize activated on their mobile (e.g. 50 sms, 10 STD mints etc) on a minimal recharge voucher.

In the mean time we also tested and won some goodies just to make sure if it works or not .

If you want to play point your browser to uninor.in/UninorConnDtl/FeelingLucky/Pages/feeling-lucky.aspx