Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) today commercially launched its much awaited 3G mobile services in Mumbai for its Dolphin and Trump GSM mobile subscribers.
MTNL Mumbai 3G tariff plans starts from Rs.250 per month at very affordable entry cost. The commercial 3G service is now available from today to all MTNL GSM Mobile customers of Mumbai.MTNL 3G Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls, and broadband wireless data,Mobile TV, all in a mobile environment.
MTNL also announced that existing customer can take the 3G service without changing the Mobile Number, just by one SMS or call center request it can be activated on their existing MTNL mobile number. To activate the MTNL's 3G service on existing MTNL mobile number, Postpaid customer need to call 1503/9869012345 for activation request of 3G and select the tariff plan. While prepaid customer need to send SMS ACT 3G to 444. The activation charge of Rs.300 will be deducted from the prepaid account and after that they can recharge with any of 3G Tariff Recharge as per their need to enjoy the 3G Mobile services.
MTNL 3G plans cost Rs.250 per month with free 3G usage worth Rs.650 and more according to the plan. MTNL also provide the 3G trail pack at Rs.99 with 15 days validity and free usage worth Rs.150 approx. The 3G HSPDA Data connection will be available at Rs.149 per month. For calls within MTNL’s own network charges will be levied at 60 paisa a minute and calls to another operator’s network, users will have to pay Re 1 a minute.
For video calls, MTNL charges between Rs.1.80 a minute for Local and Rs.3 for other network Video call. Consumers will also require a 3G-enabled handset which costs around Rs.3,000 to 8,000 and more at present to enjoy 3G benefit.
With this technology, subscribers will be able to get video streaming applications such as “Live TV”, movie downloads on their mobile handsets. Subscribers will have to pay Rs.3.00 for each MB downloads. This service will also enable customers to see their caller on screen.
3G is an advanced wireless telecom standard, used across most of the developed world. The high-speed data transfer enables live TV, fast internet connectivity & file downloads, and high-quality voice calls. Most of the new advanced mobile phones available in India support 3G, though 3G is mostly in its infancy in India. Even after 3G becomes commonplace, it will take time for the services and applications for a 3G environment to take off in India.
Private telecom operators currently providing 2G telecom services in Mumbai include Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone-Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Indicom, Loop Mobile (BPL Mobile),Aircel and TATA DoCoMo. For these mobile service providers, 3G spectrum is still a long way off.
