Reliance communications had launched a lifetime validity pack for its Netconnect+ and Pro3 prepaid subscribers towards the end of last year. The pack which is still available comes with a denomination of Rs.3001 and offers 1GB high speed data per month till the end of the current license period in each circle. Effectively Reliance is offering 1GB per month for approx 6 years or 72 months which brings the per GB cost to around Rs.41.
The only condition that Reliance has mentioned for this offer is that the 1GB that is credited each month will only be usable during that same month and leftover data will not be carried forward to the following month. No where has reliance specified that it will be capping the net access for the subscribers of this pack to 1x speeds as the offering reads 1GB of high speed data per month which implies EvDO.
It was brought to our notice by some of our readers about this misleading advertisement that Rcom was doing and how they felt cheated of their money due to this unethical practice. We decided to subject it to the test, we got a Reliance Pro3 wingle ZTE AC3633 and recharged it with the Rs.999 unlimited pack and it connected flawlessly to the EvDO Rev.A network (Though ideally speaking it should've latched on to Rev.B network since testing was done in Mumbai which is a Re.B city) in the Pro3 mode and gave an average download speed ranging between 1 to 1.5 Mbps.
After the first month we recharged it with the Rs.3001 lifetime validity 1GB/month pack. After recharging with this pack the data card could no longer be connected in Pro 3 mode even though there was full EvDO Rev.A signal available at the time of testing. When changed to Hybrid network mode the card would selectively connect to 1x network in the presence of EvDO signal. On 1x mode the card connected instantly with no problems. This clearly shows that Rcom is selectively allowing access only to the slower 1x network for its lifetime pack subscribers. If you recharge with any other monthly or long validity Netconnect+ or Pro3 data pack on top of the lifetime pack, you can again enjoy access to the high speed network.
Kindly share your personal experiences about recharging with the lifetime pack and let us know your views and opinions about this unethical and unjust practice by Rcom in your comments below.
