[SX4LOVER]

Originally Posted by SX4LOVER

Any one here knows when Airtel is likely to launch 3G in Guwahati??? Thnx!!

+1 on my post. Spoke to Airtel Guwahati chap a few days back for the purpose of buying an iPhone 4. He said 3G would be launched by next month. Fingers are crossed.

[IronH4WK]

Isn't there 3G in Pune? I've been here a few days but all I'm getting is 2G :(

[SX4LOVER]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

Isn't there 3G in Pune? I've been here a few days but all I'm getting is 2G :(

Are you using BSNL? Currently i think only BSNL is giving 3G services in Pune.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

Isn't there 3G in Pune? I've been here a few days but all I'm getting is 2G :(

All major networks offer 3G in Pune. What network are you on and have you activated 3G service and a data pack? Also check if your phone (Nokia) is set to dual/UMTS in Network settings. On an iPhone see if 3G is switched on in network settings.

Cheers!

[SX4LOVER]

Originally Posted by R2D2

All major networks offer 3G in Pune. What network are you on and have you activated 3G service and a data pack? Also check if your phone (Nokia) is set to dual/UMTS in Network settings. On an iPhone see if 3G is switched on in network settings.

Cheers!

@R2D2: Oh well....my news was 4 months old.......but only three network players can offer 3G in any state AFAIK. any inputs ?

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by R2D2

All major networks offer 3G in Pune. What network are you on and have you activated 3G service and a data pack? Also check if your phone (Nokia) is set to dual/UMTS in Network settings. On an iPhone see if 3G is switched on in network settings.

Cheers!

I'm on Airtel and yes, I do have a 3G plan activated on my connection and HSDPA is active on my HD2. Ever since I left Bangalore, I'm getting only 2G. No roaming on 3G?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by SX4LOVER

@R2D2: Oh well....my news was 4 months old.......but only three network players can offer 3G in any state AFAIK. any inputs ?

I know of Idea (my operator), Vodafone, BSNL & Tata Docomo offering 3g in Pune which makes it 4 networks. My friends and colleagues use these networks. You have not mentioned what network you are on. If you are on Airtel you are out of luck. AFAIK they didnt win a 3G licence for MH & Goa.

PS - just read your post about you being on Airtel. You may want to call their customer care to clarify if they have a roaming arrangement with an Op in Pune. But data charges whilst roaming are prohibitive. If you are going to be in Pune for a while you may want to consider a local SIM.

[IronH4WK]

Reached Mumbai this evening and I received a message when entering the city limits saying I'm in a 3G enabled area! Sure enough, I'm enjoying 3G on my phone here

[SX4LOVER]

Only private operators were permitted to bid for 3G licences out of which only 3 per state would get the licences. It was a lottery where the licence fee was same but only three were chosen.

BSNL and MTNL didnt have to bid, but just had to pay certain amount as fee for starting 3G services. Thats why we shouldn't count these two among those who :bid for licences".
Im not coming back to pune as i have been posted out and live in guwahati now. Waiting for airtel to begin 3G here!!

Originally Posted by R2D2

I know of Idea (my operator), Vodafone, BSNL & Tata Docomo offering 3g in Pune which makes it 4 networks. My friends and colleagues use these networks. You have not mentioned what network you are on. If you are on Airtel you are out of luck. AFAIK they didnt win a 3G licence for MH & Goa.

PS - just read your post about you being on Airtel. You may want to call their customer care to clarify if they have a roaming arrangement with an Op in Pune. But data charges whilst roaming are prohibitive. If you are going to be in Pune for a while you may want to consider a local SIM.

[shajufx]

Its been sometime we are witnessing different service providers launching their 3G facilities in the country. There are many uncertainties prevailing with regard to the quality of service, tariff tables and the coverage zones.

Here its an attempt to bring similar doubts and discussions in one place, so that we dont have to wander around in different websites without any satisfactory explanation to what we are looking for. Its also a personal account of what I am going through to start with.

My present mobile is Sony Ericsson Vivaz U5i which is enabled with the 3G features namely HSDPA (10.2 Mbps) and HSUPA (2 Mbps), the first one is the download speed and latter is the upload speed as far as I understand. A true 3G is HSPA according to some definitions, although I am not sure how different it can be with our present available service quality.

Alright, lets analyse how a prepaid Vodafone 3G service is requested and activated. One is supposed to send an SMS to 144 as 'Act 101' for a Mobile Internet plan of Rs.101 which gives 101MB data for 30 days validity. I wanted to test this before looking at the higher plans, did the messaging part and waited. Confirmation message was received within 30 mts and service was activated within an hour with a message "Promotion successfully applied". Unfortunately, this reply SMS was received 3 times and thereby deducting my balance Rs.101 X 3 = 303 !! Anyway, customer care was attempted on 116 and I was given a complaint number and a promise of refund within 48 hours.

I read from reports that Vodafone do not have 3G infrastructure in Karnataka and they have a tie up with Airtel to give this service to its customers. I have not heard any of my Airtel friends happy with the 3G so far, so wondering how a tie-up would end up !

Now about the display part on mobile screen. I am supposed to go to my settings and change the network mode to UMTS or HSDPA, which can not be found in Vivaz anyway (so far), so selecting 'Dual mode' is the only present choice. I dont see any 3G symbol on the screen, but also fail to see any better data speed than an average EDGE. Only the EDGE was displaying for 12 hours with the letter 'E' and sometimes changes to 'H' which I assume to be HSDPA. Took the phone to another locality (15 kms) to see if its to do with the network tower. Sadly nothing has changed.

I can see 3G networks of Airtel, Aircel, Tata Docomo and Cellone when I do a manual network search apart from their respective non-3G network. That means if I activate 3G on my Airtel number, I might be able to select the 3G network and browse (just assuming, not yet tried).

Lets hear from others, what service provider they are subscribed to, postpaid or preaid, display/speed details etc. It would also be helpful what changes they find when they are travelling to other cities.

[mayankk]

Nice!

Instrument : Xperia X10
Airtel 3g, postpaid.

Method: Send "3g" to 121, then take the initiative and call up these guys and ask them to activate whatever plan youve picked, else the use as you go will empty your bank in a hurry.
also, apparently its a practice that if you dont tell them NOT to, they will pre-charge you for six months advance on your package.
In my case it was a 675 monthly package, and i got a clubbed charge for six months of 4k odd rupees.


Service: speed is as published.last check gave me 2762/886 kbps.


what you gotta do:
after youve activated on 121, in network mode, under settings, select "wcdma preferred/gsm".
APN: enter any name, and apn url is airtelgprs.com
no other setting required.
NONE.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by mayankk

....call up these guys and ask them to activate whatever plan youve picked, else the use as you go will empty your bank in a hurry.....

Thats one reason I am trying all this on a Prepaid SIM, atleast you know you can lose only whats in the balance Every network error costs money these days !

[Jaggu]

I have been on 3G since day 1 it was launched in Bangalore by Airtel. Just sent the SMS and activated the plan, initially 100 Rs 100 mb, then 200 Rs 250 Mb and now on 675 1.25GB plan. Earlier there were some issue with connection, as in 3G will not connect without switching ON and Off under some towers. Right now it seems to be sorted.

Speed varies between 1.5 to 3 Mbps download.

BSNL connection i bought a prepaid card and works well in most of the places where i have tried. Though internet connectivity got disconnected with BSNL when i traveled to Maharashtra.

Device iPhone and Nokia.

Settings:

Airtel APN: airtelgprs.com same as 2G
BSNL APN: bsnlnet

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I have been on 3G since day 1 it was launched in Bangalore by Airtel. .....

Thanks Jaggu for the merging part, I was searching with all the available key words, but none showed any result Wishing if I could see this page before activation !!

[fuel_addict]

I have been using Vodafone 3G services since a week now. Getting decent speeds overall. Here is a snapshot of the speed through the speedtest app. Have checked few times and this is pretty much the average speed.