![Uninor Offers Cheapest 2G Data Plans [June 2013]](http://telecomtalk.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Uninor-GPRS-packs-70x70.jpg?80e5e9)
Following the Supreme Court’s verdict to cancel 122 2G mobile licenses, Indian telecom market is going through jeopardy. STel and Cheers already shut down their services and asked their customers to opt for other operators via MNP; while Loop is ready to return the spectrum of 21 licenses.
And those are partially hit – Idea Cellular and Tata Tele filed a review petition on the ground that they applied a long before; Videocon is continuing its services as they are commercially available in few circles.
But the game is tricky for Uninor and MTS India who already invested a lot in the market and this judgement hit them worse than any operator. Foreign investers of MTS India – Sistema JSFC seeks their right via Bilateral Investment Treaty, which appears to be a strong case favoring Sistema.
In this situation Uninor is in critical condition. They planned to break even within 2013-2014 and this judgement hit them at a crucial time. Telenor, the majority foreign owner of Uninor has its investors agitated. Investors on Telenor do not like to invest more on this scam-striken Indian telecom market.
At this moment Telenor took a different approach, they flied Sigve Brekke, Head of Asian operations to India and started confidence building campaign as many employees are leaving the company. At the same time Uninor employees started campaigning for Uninor over social sites. They also published advertisements on leading dailies with ‘Continue to talk…’ tagline. Uninor is seemed to win the game by sympathy vote.While investors are reluctant to pour money in Indian operations does this strategy work for Telenor? Time will tell that!
But it is obvious basic needs of customers like proper customer care, network expansion are neglected. If you see MTS is on their roadmap and expanding its high speed wireless network over circles. With this campaigning Uninor is spending more to capture a single customer.
Telenor took some strategies (in India) which do not seem attractive in long run.
Uninor has no postpaid option while new players like MTS India, Tata Docomo GSM are offering postpaid plans along with regular prepaid plans. Without postpaid many corporate users will turn down Uninor’s offering. Being prepaid means Uninor is still another connection to a person in this multi-SIM environment.
Uninor continues maintaining its low profile as poor man’s second connection despite of the fact like other new players they are also a part of the gang who brings competition to Indian 2G voice market. Uninor also does not offer Blackberry services or smartphones with bundled data.
It is sure that in mobile voice market is getting saturated, urban market is already saturated with multi sim environment and rural market is following the trend at fast pace. Data is considered to be the future.
In that sceanario Uninor is lazy to think about data strategy. Their official GPRS FAQ says “… maximum speed may reach to 40 kbps in 2.5 G network.” Users also complained that Uninor often caps GPRS speed at 40kbps (=dial up speed).
Telenor did not take part in 3G auction in 2010 which was quite justified considering 3G is yet to take off. But why didn’t they take the risk to provide competition in the next level of mobile communications?
To get back the spectrum lost, Telenor has to put huge money in upcoming 2G auction. Also they have to buy out some shares of JV to keep their stakes at 74%. With investors’ hesitation Telenor’s Indian venture is under financial crisis, and they will not participate in 4G 700 MHz spectrum auction for sure! Future is not so bright for Telenor’s Indian operations!
What do you think looking at the future can competitive Indian telecom market can make Uninor sustain in the long run do share your views or will it be another case of STEL and Cheers Mobile ?
sachin March 13, 2012 at 4:28 pm
this goverments action has brought an increase in tarrif even in mobile phone call rates which we have never seen in the past.the whole sector has became unstable due to their acts
Jaweed March 13, 2012 at 12:33 am
Not only poor man UNINOR everyones(pay less talk more) 2 connection
VB March 12, 2012 at 10:40 pm
gimme a break. What u mean by that huh? On what basis u are saying 4g on mobile wont be allowed? u gotta b kidding me man!
sachin March 12, 2012 at 9:58 pm
are you reading all these sibalji??@Balu
anupam March 12, 2012 at 9:33 pm
i am waiting for the day uninor docomo enter delhi airtel will see the port of its xistence. so far it has managed to keep out docomo evn after alocation such is it’s lobbying with govt. and i bet airtel voda idea got a hand in new player problm
sachin March 12, 2012 at 9:24 pm
very correct@vasu
ARJUN CHANDRASHEKAR March 12, 2012 at 8:57 pm
The Main Drawback of Uninor is Non-Availability Of Postpaid Services, Blackberry Services, Worst Coverage and The Worst Tariff Plans.
Balu March 12, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Kapil sibal should do honestly for MTS and Uninor, because of both people are getting benefit till date…do’t know what is next for both…..who ever signed papers to allow spectrum, they all are released and n-joying moments..whoever invested money they are struggling ..what a I(n)DIA
DostNet March 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm
I also heard this… let him meet from city to city …
Uninor is a looser now! 1st they joined hands wth Unitech – the real estate mafias and now they risked to lose all of their investment!
Kaushik March 12, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Sigve wanted to meet people and discuss things
Kaushik March 12, 2012 at 12:34 pm
First let them bring Postpaid! Then 3G! But Uninor 4G is far away thought for now.
@Rohan Singh
Lalit March 12, 2012 at 10:01 am
We have elected the corrupted politicians and they bag their handful of money. Now its the time to people to react. Unfortunately we are busy with our regular Facebook chat and e-mail forwarding…!!! Coming to the Telenor investment in India, Uninor had made a strong presence in India with their 198 & 38 plans. Almost 40% of the subscribers of Uninor are on these plans.
Only 18% of our population are having high end model handsets or using GPRS or having a Broadband connection at home. It will be another measly investment for our telecom players to think about 4G.
Think the telecom players shouldn’t go into the junk of 4G comparing with US/ Canada/ Australia. If operators will go only for Wimax also, only 2% of indian population will be using the same in 3 years of time
Rohan Singh March 12, 2012 at 12:21 am
What about NTP which says one license for all..? Why not Uninor participate in 4G spectrum instead of 2G spectrum and offer total telecom services as mentioned in NTP.
Rohan Singh March 12, 2012 at 12:19 am
Like
Pratul March 11, 2012 at 9:32 pm
EDGE+ that is capable to providing speeds upto 600kbps
S. A. Rahman March 11, 2012 at 9:05 pm
@Arka
people generally forget this and complain later.
mihir March 11, 2012 at 9:01 pm
THE FACT IS THE SYSTEM IS NOT PROPER=== WHY THE SERVICE PROVIDER HAS TO SHUT DOWN SERVICE == IS THAT BECAUSE THEY HAVE INVESTED BILLION OF RS.
WHY THE LICENSE HAS TO BE CANCEL AND IF TALKING OF LOSS THEN WY IT WAS NOT STOP AT THE STARTING POINT….. AFTER 4 TO 5 YEARS OUR INDIAN SYSTEM FEEL THAT IT WAS LOSS
TEN HOW CAN V TRUST ON 3G ACTION AND 4G ACTION IS THIS ONLY FOR DATA SPEEDY SERVICE AND ONLY IN 2G THE CALL CAN BE MADE INDIAN SYSTEM IS GOOD FOR NOTHING
I REQUEST TO SERVICE PROVIDER THAT THEY ARE FULL TO DO BUSSNESS IN INDIA
CAUSE AS ITS ALL IN FLOVER OF BSNL CAUSE ITS GOVTEY DONT WANT PRIVATE OPERATER ANY MORE WHY INDIAN GOVERNMENT WILL THNK ABT PEOPLE
NOTE WITHING 2 YEAR PETROL PRICE WILL BE MORE THEN RS.80 /LITER
THIS IS NOT A ISSUE FOR GOVERMENT, ISSUE IS HOW OUR POLETITION WILL INCREASE THERE BANK BALANCE WE SHOULD THINK ABT OUR POLETITION
vasu March 11, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Very true
Merc March 11, 2012 at 7:35 pm
In my house, i get no airtel signal, but i get full uninor signal. Uninor network coverage is very very good.
after 3 years of complaining, Airtel finally sent technician to check network signal in my area, as i threatened to port out. MNP definitely moved the power into hands of the consumer.
Anuj Wankhede March 11, 2012 at 6:48 pm
@Rahul Sen
Some businesses have a long gestation period like telecom, media publishing etc. You need to keep pumping money in the initial years and be prepared for heavy investments with negative returns. Once the critical mass of subscribers is achieved, then the companies can start getting solid and recurring returns. As far as offering 3G services is concerned, 3G has been a damp squib in India and has not received mass usage. Uninor was smart – or plain lucky -not to have sunk money in it. In India it is the small paisas earned from mass volumes that will rake in money. Not fancy services which may be good for a few people and make for attractive ads. The crores of Indians who use mobiles for voice purposes will generate more than enough profits rather than going for ever changing data market. Uninor is on the perfect track according to me.
Ashok March 11, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Yes data is the future but for mobile users only future in data is 3G as no 4G on mobile allowed in india .
Rahul Sen March 11, 2012 at 6:06 pm
may be Uninor is offering cheap but it also hits their own pocket, and when they get back the spectrum via 2G auction they cannt offer it.
For a short run this tariff magic works, but for a long run the company can not be a profitable venture.
Shinefire March 11, 2012 at 5:53 pm
@Akhilesh Deshmukh
I feel you should not have jumped overboard on reading this matter. I have seen that the customers who has taken Uninor sims are continuing to use it unlike that of other operators. 35 million customers of them are not fools to purchase it. Unlike other operators like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL etc who for for recharging Rs.100 takes nearly Rs.20 as service charge, the recharges of Uninor offer 100% talk values and it is due to this reason I still use their SIM taken during their launch at Kerala.
WiMAX March 11, 2012 at 5:52 pm
but you think telenor did not know about the scam of unitech? When someone invest their money they should know every thing about the company where they invest their money. So telenor is also involv in the scam as they invest in a fraud company like unitech.
T. Raju March 11, 2012 at 5:52 pm
The point is data is the future and for that Telenor need plenty of money to get back 2G spectrum and then arises the question of 4G. but investors are not in a position to say yes and Telenor stuck to 2G only!!
I guess it would be better if they come up with a new technology TD-SCDMA.
T. Raju March 11, 2012 at 5:49 pm
4G in India will be based upon LTE and LTE roll out at first phase will be at 2300MHz band so its coverage will be more limited than 3G.
No one knows when 700 MHz spectrum will be auctioned. So keep your finger crossed.
Coming to Uninor @RDB
Yea I have also seen this. Say this new connection costs Rs 100 and Uninor gives 700 min of local offnet. Call termination charge is 20p/min, so uninor has to pay Rs 140 at minimum (more if this 700 min comes in seconds). Uninor is giving subsidy of Rs 40 or more to catch a customer, while commission to the agent/retailer is not calculated. And after a month the user leaves the sim and opt another one. So customer addition may be high but active userbase is around 55% for uninor.
At this point among new players Tata docomo is most balancing one, while MTS is betting high on the high speed data services on EVDO.
Shinefire March 11, 2012 at 5:41 pm
@Ashok
4G Spectrum auction is going to take place soon and it is obvious that players who has took 3G cannot compete there due to their currently liability under 3G. Uninor has taken a brilliant decision not to compete for 3G and they have already said that they are looking for 4G. Uninor will surely compete for 4G spectrum and with their current infrastructure it will be a low cost affair for them.
sushant gupta March 11, 2012 at 4:35 pm
after having invested huge money mere walkout doesn’t looks to be an option before telenor,rather they may stay invested in india for few more years and then might look for mergers or sell out at a profitable valuation….
Pratul March 11, 2012 at 4:21 pm
3G is poor in indoor reception as it has to use 2100Mhz spectrum which has high reflectivity and attenuation. Compared to 3G, 4G will most probably be allocated in 700Mhz spectrum which will reduce the base station cost and in hand reduce the operating cost. So 4G is future and not 3G. All depends on the operating band and bandwidth allocated!!!
RDB March 11, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Yeah from my experience Uninor new connections are sold at Rs 50-80 at places with FRC of 197 (= 700 loc min +2000 loc onnet min). People are buying it and leave it after 1 month. This pushed high addition but after a month most users donot use that SIM. Uninor does not have a stable user base except some.
GS March 11, 2012 at 3:06 pm
@Arka
Sir nothing against u but it is for just knowledge sake of everyone, all companies including Bsnl,Airtel,Vodafone are adding more subscribers that Uninor every month but their net additions are less than uninor till january only because they are removing their inactive subscribers every month so they can utilize their number series by bringing those inactive sims in market in the form of new connections so these sims can provide them revenue as everyone knows specturm is delinked from number of subscribers, so their is no need for fake data in the form of inactive subsribers. And these new companies are doing the same just throwing sims free of cost in market to show only the count, but in actual revenue matters and see the revenue of Airtel,Vodafone,Bsnl and these u will get the actual figure.
Ashok March 11, 2012 at 1:36 pm
dont u know dat Data n 3G is the future and lack this so Future is not so bright for Telenor’s Indian operations! N jinka 3g m usr kar raha hu unko to maine paise nahi diye yo bhi wo kaise operate kar rahe hai if u want to sustain in the market u have to go with the generation n technolgy. Its not my fault they didnt took 3G itnot my fault they didnt go with present generation… I do 3G recharge n spent money on Aircel 3G ..if it had been uninor I would have done same ..do why shud I give them licence fee..n we need more 3G operators to have competion in 3G market so as to benefit u thr customers..
Pratul March 11, 2012 at 1:35 pm
A week ago Uninor automatically activated radio service on my number and deducted 10 rs from my balance. when i called they made excuse that system is down and call afterwards. when i called the next morning the lady at cc rudely told me that this is activated by me and will be active for a week and cannot be deactivated. Then i called their 198 complaint no and explained the cc guy repeated same and the moment i disconnected the call, i received a msg that radio service has been disconnected. Now i did not send a activation and a disactivation. This made me think Uninor has restored to same tricks as airtel and vodafone as it is dire straits for money!!!
Swapan Halder March 11, 2012 at 1:21 pm
It is fact Uninor is offering cheaper voice/sms rates, its gprs is pathetic.
Rationally thinking says Uninor has no cash flow, and they are looking for a new partner to infuse money in the JV.
Without cash flow, they can not sustain in India, as future is only data and uninor is not keeping pace with the time.
Sudip Saha March 11, 2012 at 1:21 pm
It is true true dat Uninor is maintaining a low-profile, poor man’s second connection. But, I think its a bit hard for them to sustain without corporate, BlackBerry plans.
Akhilesh Deshmukh March 11, 2012 at 1:16 pm
I meant port out from Uninor
@arka thanks for the info, but I am done with Uninor.
Arka March 11, 2012 at 12:52 pm
@Akhilesh Deshmukh
I am using UNINOR at the day,when they lunch their service in kolkata circle.Till now I am very happy with their services and networks. And one thing,I tell you,that,after take the connection,you should active DND.
Akhilesh Deshmukh March 11, 2012 at 12:47 pm
After reading this post, I have asked 10 of my friends to port to Uninor, Thanks TelecomTalk
Saurabh March 11, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Just because you are a 3G user, you want Uninor should have applied for 3G license. When you have 3/4 3G operator per circle, why you want more operators? Do you think that, Uninor may have provided you cheap 3G? Not at all. Just stick with the current operator and stop shouting. No one is asking you to come to Uninor or shouting here won’t get you 3G on Uninor.
Tu dede Uninor ko 16000 crore+ infrastructure cost, le lenge woh 3G license aur laga denge tere area mein tower.
Saurabh March 11, 2012 at 12:31 pm
I think you should take your words back. Telenor didn’t make any loss to Govt. They(Unitech) acquired licenses in right manner i.e according to the policy at that time. Unitech Wireless applied for licenses and got it. After that like any other foreign investor Telenor made entry into Indian telecom space. Unitech sold stake at a premium to them. They just pass on the benefits to customers by offering them cheap call rates.
I (say A) have land and I sell it for Rs.1 crore to someone else (say B). After few months, the person who bought it from me sell it for Rs.1.25 crore to someone else (say C). So, can you say B made a loss to A? It was A decision to sell the land and now when B sold it at a premium, A is crying.
It was Govt mistake, not to come up with a clear framework and policy and companies are suffering from all this.
I don’t know why SC didn’t took any action against Govt (The main culprit) and also they didn’t directed them to pay back the license fee to companies. They just cancel the licenses without protecting companies interest. Nothing more can be expected in country like India where decision makers are brainless and always bent rules to favor them.
Arka March 11, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Good topic and nice analysis.
But,I want to tell some words here.I and like me, many students and youth and many many poor persons of INDIA love UNINOR.Though It has no strong data plans/smartphone bundle usage/3G services and the network is still need upgrade,It becomes the highest subscriber added operator till January,2012. And It has strong subscriber base(approx. 4cr) in just 1.5-2yrs. It is good to see,that,MTS(well-known for 1p/2sec Local/STD) and UNINOR (well-known for cheapest on-net calling) are determined to stay here and continue their services.
Just think,If they continue their voice services for as long as 10yrs,what happen for the biggest-thief AIRTEL and Vodafone?
Data plans/smartphone bundle usage/postpaid plans are the matter of time and they can start it anytime after the 2G auction in 2012-2013?
But,in INDIA like developing country, first need the voice service after that data and 3G services etc etc. So, they know their business well.They are already hike their tariff day-by-day but it is lowest in the market till now.
So,I am sure that,they will stay here and become the added highest number of subscriber doing AIRTEL down.
WiMAX March 11, 2012 at 12:13 pm
as they get 2G spectrum in a wrong manner for that they can able to provide low cost call rate nothing else.. if they get spectrum in right manner they will never gives us low call rate,, unitech and telnor both r make indian gov huge loss,, and i thing our SC take a right dissection to the fraud company,,,,,,,
Chetan March 11, 2012 at 11:47 am
Uninor have kept gprs daily cap it is worst abt uninor
Rajendra March 11, 2012 at 11:33 am
Uninor trying to increase its costumer base.. i think they opt for bank loan for 2G auction showing its costumer base..
sAM March 11, 2012 at 10:34 am
Yes. Itz true dat Uninor maintain a low-profile .poor man’s second connection. But they r hugely succesful in becoming d KING of this.
They concentrate only on voice services n they hope dat day wil cum when majority of d voice calls wil b done from n to uninor.
As regards to spectrum, if u hav money den evrythng wil work out.
irfan March 11, 2012 at 9:56 am
i dont think uninor can sustain the market so much of low tarrif rates dont even meet their running expenses besides no postpaid loyal customer and blackberry users and no data plans uninor has no option but to quit the over crowded indian telecom industry network coverage is least only in cities merely sympathy and love cannot help a company sustain in the market
Kanaga Deepan N March 11, 2012 at 9:55 am
Cheers and even S-Tel leaving India is OK… But Uninor leaving India will have some -ve impacts, imho… I would like to remind that due to uninor only, Docomo has started offering 1p/2sec Local plans…
I don’t use Uninor, but without Uninor, definitely competition in Telecom will be reduced a bit…
krishnendu March 11, 2012 at 9:43 am
nice article,future is not too bright for Uninor.
Ashok March 11, 2012 at 9:34 am
Uninor has no 3G means uninor not even exits for me. I am only only 3G customer(as I want high speed) n video calling so I as if now no mobile service for me if no 3G. From 3years I m using 3G and have nerver never looked back to 2G n I only only use 3G . Now it seems verry very difficult n impossible for me to roll back to 2G. N no 3G in uninor means no uninor for me… Its big mistake according to me that they didnt took 3G licence.there may be many cst who only use 3G like me..what abt us Uninor?
Sowmiyanarayanan, S March 11, 2012 at 8:54 am
Among the new operator telnor and mts are professional telecom operator. But present scenario Not favour for them.