Vodafone has entered into the EVDO based mobile broadband market with its NETCRUISE products.
At this moment Vodafone Netcruise is available Pune (Maharastra), Mysore (Karnataka), Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Coimbatore (Tamilnadu) as a Pilot Project.
If you are thinking about dual license of Vodafone, please let me clear it.
Vodafone and SSTL come into an agreement, by which SSTL’s EVDO products are to be sold under Vodafone brand, i.e. MTS MBlaze is got a new name Vodafone NetCruise! It is just like Tata Photon+ services are also available under Virgin branding as ‘vFlash’.
"Vodafone Mobile’ branded services is being offered by SSTL through a brand franchise with Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited (MCSL). MCSL will provide SSTL with designing, marketing and servicing of ‘Vodafone Mobile’ branded products being powered by SSTL.
Priced at Rs 2050 Vodafone NetCruise wireless internet modem is a Plug & Play device which supports downlink of up to 3.1 Mbps and uplink of upto 1.8 Mbps (EVDO Rev A). It also includes a MicroSD card slot.
Postpaid Plans of Vodafone NetCruise:
| Type | Charges (Rs) | Usage (MB) | Validity |
| Postpaid Starter | 699 | 1280 | 30 |
| Unlimited | 799 | 3.5 GB (FU) | 30 |
| Unlimited | 999 | 6 GB (FU) | 30 |
| Unlimited | 1299 | 9 GB (FU) | 30 |
| Overage 40p/mb |
| FU = Fair Usage with Throttling @ CDMA 1x Speeds post Bundled usage |
| FREE browsing on* : www.yahoo.co.in | www.wikipedia.org |
Prepaid Plans of Vodafone NetCruise:
| Type | Charges (Rs) | Usage (MB) | Validity (days) |
| Starter Plan | 498 | 650 | 60 |
| Medium usage | 499 | 700 | 30 |
| Medium usage | 699 | 1280 | 30 |
| Unlimited | 799 | 3.5 GB (FU) | 30 |
| Unlimited | 899 | 4.5 GB (FU) | 30 |
| Unlimited | 998 | 6 GB (FU) | 30 |
Over usage 50p/MB.
Vodafone NetCruise comes with online prepaid recharge and bill payment facility with BillDesk.For more details call NetCruise tollfree helpline 1800 120 1111.
Bottomline:
As a long time MTS MBlaze user, I can say Vodafone NetCruise plans cannot beat MTS MBlaze plans. MTS MBlaze unlimited (throttling at 12GB) plan comes at Rs 999 on prepaid and Rs 899 monthly rental on postpaid. So better you go for MTS Mblaze which is pocket friendly.
Vodafone NetCruise directly compete with Vodafone 3G/HSPA services and MTS MBlaze EVDO services. It is not clear who is like to take advantage from the deal, is it SSTL to take momentum of Vodafone’s long term branding in India and earn new customers or it is Vodafone who like to expand its wireless broadband coverage with SSTL's wide EVDO coverage. In that case Vodafone will also bring dual mode dongles or WiFi device like Tata Docomo Wifi Hub.
I also think about another second option, that MTS is going to roll out EVDO Rev B (speed upto 14.7Mbps) in these circles at initial phase and MTS’s current EVDO Rev A product range will go rebranded as Vodafone NetCruise, but this is very unlikely.
