I was glad yesterday to find out that Mobitel has revised its Any8 charging plan so that you can connect with your Mobitel friends on the Any8 plan at M Best Friend rates (outgoing Rs.1 per min, SMS Rs.0.50 per message). I was EVEN GLAD this morning to find out that they have more and more revised it, now charging for the days that you don't use it either (that is when you are out of credit and on Zero Balance), leaving me with a account balance of Rs.-7.66 (note the minus mark). My experiences with Mobitel customer care hasn't been pleasant ones at all, one of the complaints that I lodged on 3rd Jan 2008 hasn't still been solved (other networks solve in three days). I haven't used Dialog My10 since sometime, but in the past they didn't charge if you were on zero balance and I'm sure that they still don't do. My best compliments to Mobitel executives, you are really great guys, you guys have found a REALLY GREAT, VERY PRACTICAL way that will keep all your subscribers away from Any8. Great idea, results are guaranteed (that at least a minor portion of subscribers will quit using the service). Now I don't have much friends to communicate with either (
A Life of Misery. My true story), I'm poor, I've gotta think about quitting using Any8. Good luck Mobitel, hope you guys will understand the realities and find a better group of (stupidless) executives someday.
That is the truth. I'm thinking why I don't write an in depth article on why Mobitel fails - but the reason why they fail is simple - they always want to provide their subscriber with the smallest possible and earn the biggest possibled, ie- taking every bit out of their subscriber. They just still haven't realised the basic rules of business. The same simple reason why a network like Tigo, with minimalist network infrastructure (never up to Mobitel in that case) came to the 2nd spot bypassing Mobitel and directly challenging Dialog.
But Mobitel has a good network infrastructure, that I respect.
*Mobitel M Best Friend was launched.
*Nokia 6650 - an S60 device for T-Mobile was announced.
*Nokia 6124 Classic - an S60 device for Vodafone was announced.
*CorePlayer 1.2.0 beta was announced
*NS Basic, the cross-platform Symbian programming language project is said to be coming soon at their newly put up website.
Following Dialog's introduction of the Kit Double service, Mobitel has also introduced a new service called M Friend. What's special in this is that you don't have to have the both connections under your name. Mobitel has also launched a new service to replace your old inactive Mobitel SIM for just Rs.100! Expect more details. Come on mobile networks! YOU COMPETE - WE (subscribers) ROCK!
Airtel Lanka was said to be launching early this year, but so far we haven't got any news on them. If Airtel was launched soon, with their rumored rates of Rs.2 per min, we could have seen a good reduction of rates from Dialog too, as their anniversary is coming close too. I see some new half-painted mobile network towers these days, but I think these are of Mobitel, which seems to have completed their target 85% 3G coverage on it's network. Mobitel's 3G coverage range in 3G base stations are impressive, as I've already mentioned. But they still lack one thing to be a perfect network - Free Missed Call Alerts. But all in all, I feel that now Mobitel is in a competitive level with Dialog, technological wisely.
Refer to
this link at ElaKiri.com, a Sri Lankan forum, to find out an interesting case of Tigo secretly and illegally listening to subscribers' telephone calls. I don't know whether it's true or false, but the amount of unpleasant experiences I had with the same network leads me to think that "a smoke doesn't come without a fire". Once Tigo used to charge you Rs.1.18 every few seconds if you were in a GPRS login process which took more time than normal (again, the error was on their side), it did cost me hundreds of rupees (of course, with their snail like EDGE speed), and after so many complaints, they only paid me Rs.50 back. All these resulted me in switching to a different network. However, when it comes to customer service, Dialog is second to none. According to my knowledge, Tigo is the first network in Sri Lanka to start charging for customer service (Rs.3), but you still have to wait in a queue (and the bonus doesn't help because you can't use it until you end up all the credit in your account, be it Rs.50 or Rs.1500), while at Dialog, they instantly pick up your call totally free. I won't mention Mobitel, they have not responded to a complaint that I logged one and a half months ago (where Dialog takes only around three days), but at least their staff is friendly and the network has a nice 3G coverage. I've never talked to a "friendly", Tigo customer agent, they always ask you to send them a fax if you want to complaint and most of the agents are a bit too "proud" and "big headed".
- This post was not aimed at attacking any of the above mentioned networks, and only expresses my personal experiences and views.
Mobitel's Mobile TV has only four local channels, but they have reduced the tariff to Rs.3 per minute. Dialog silently launched their own Video Call portal - VideoBOX - having the same number, 555, that Mobitel has. Mobitel has a nice and fast expanding 3G coverage, which has a wider coverage than Dialog. (I mean wider. Eg: Town A - Dialog 3G covers only the city limits
-Mobitel 3G covers nearly 3/4 kms) I've not been into blogging lately because of some personal problems, which are available at my life blog -
www.miserylife.tk. Wish if I could die.
I wonder whether some mobile networks OR EVEN THE SLT ITSELF uses LankaCom infrastructure. Something that must be found out about. However, btw, Dialog 3G coverage is being expanded at a rapid rate, but unfortunately at some cities, they have enabled it only to the sub tower in the city centre thus making 3G usable only at the city area and not 3/4kms away. I've been an unlucky victim of this situation as the Dialog 3G coverage ends at around 1/2km prior reaching my house. But I hope they'll further expand it. It seems Mobitel is failing to complete it's 3G coverage target of 85% by December end and if they still tell that they've covered 85%, it must be the "Vanniya" as even some major cities in Western province still doesn't have 3G coverage. But it must be appreciated that they have the lowest charges and covered most of major cities with 3G faster than Dialog did. Keep it up Mobitel!
Weekly summary
*Dialog introduced KIT Double and 3G coverage was expanded.
*Mobitel reduced video call rates from 2LKR to 50 cents and introduced SMART IDD 250 rechargeable card.
*Hutch reduced Hutch to Hutch voice rates to 2LKR
*Tigo didn't make much sound and so is about Airtel's launch.
Mobitel has reduced Mobitel to Mobitel video call rates to 50 cents per minute. Previously the charge was 2LKR per minute. The new rate is an introductory rate and will be valid for 2 months. Voice call rates will remain same (2LKR per minute).
Mobitel has reduced Mobitel to Mobitel video call rates to 50 cents per minute. Previously the charge was 2LKR per minute. The new rate is an introductory rate and will be valid for 2 months. Voice call rates will remain same (2LKR per minute).
As M3 is the hottest topic on Sri Lankan mobile telephone industry nowadays, I thought of devoting another post for M3. M3- Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel's 3.5G service- offers Video Messaging service, branded as VideoSMS, in 3G coverage areas, at voice message (aka VoiceSMS) rates. A VideoSMS sent to another Mobitel costs only ONE LANKA RUPEE, and although their website show the charge for VideoSMS to other networks as 2.50LKR, this service to be not working, as it consistently fails when tried. mTunes is a ring back tone (PRBT) service, but this is not yet introduced. Await more details on Push Mail and please feel free to comment on your experience with Mobitel M3.
M3, Mobitel's 3G service is available in many areas of the country, but currently, no list of covered areas is available. M3 is enabled for all Mobitel users and the normal SIM cards have a 500kbps+ speed and if you obtain a USIM card, you'll experience much higher speeds. It is possible to take video calls using the normal SIM and the rates are lower than those of Dialog. However, my personal opinion is that their advertising is not powerful enough and many people even don't know what M3 offers. So it's no wonder that almost nobody knows about "mTunes", their ring back tone service, which is popular as "ringin-tone" in Sri Lanka. However, the lower charges should be appreciated.
M3, Mobitel's 3G service is available in many areas of the country, but currently, no list of covered areas is available. M3 is enabled for all Mobitel users and the normal SIM cards have a 500kbps+ speed and if you obtain a USIM card, you'll experience much higher speeds. It is possible to take video calls using the normal SIM and the rates are lower than those of Dialog. However, my personal opinion is that their advertising is not powerful enough and many people even don't know what M3 offers. So it's no wonder that almost nobody knows about "mTunes", their ring back tone service, which is popular as "ringin-tone" in Sri Lanka. However, the lower charges should be appreciated.
Two Sri Lankan mobile operators are now providing 3G services. Mobitel and Dialog Telekom. Dialog recently enabled 3G service to all its customers (previously they offered 3G service only for postpaid connections) and is utilizing its 3G services over the UMTS platform, which enables a maximum downlink data rate of 384kbps. However, personally, I wonder whether they have higher speeds. Mobitel has a HSPA platform and offers a maximum speed of 7.2Mbps. Mobitel provides video calls at voice call rates and has covered many parts of the island with 3G and plans to cover 85% of the country by December.
