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| Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
| Bharti Airtel Bill Pay via SMS |
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 Bharti Airtel has introduced a new feature that will let a subscriber pay his mobile bills by means of SMS. So where will they Debit a subscriber account ? To avail this service you must be registered with Bharti Airtel using your VISA Credit Card. [Mastercard will follow soon]. Once registered, you need not go to Airtel shop, just send an SMS and the bill will be paid. To register, send an SMS mchek to 121 from your Airtel Mobile.
So what's the big deal ? Can't I just use auto Debit on my Credit Card which they are already offering ? Exactly!!! Airtel has realized the potential of m-commerce in India and is basically testing water on its large subscriber base of 42 Million and then it may announce a full blown m-commerce system instead of availing services from third parties few quarters from now.
Bharti Airtel promoters - Mittal family, is already using its Telecom subscriber base to market Bharti Axa Life Insurance products which is a privately held company and is no way linked to Bharti Airtel, the listed entity.Labels: Bharti-Airtel, m-commerce |
Published on Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 8:03 PM  |
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| Tuesday, August 28, 2007 |
| Reliance and Tata Press for Number Portability |
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CDMA Operators - Tata Indicom and Reliance Communications are pressing the Government of India to introduce Mobile Number Portability in a phased manner as soon as possible. These Telcos believe that their is a big chunk of unsatisfied customers in the GSM Space - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Hutch-Essar, BSNL, Idea Cellular and Spice who will migrate to Tata Indicom or Reliance Communications.
In our limited survey[ Bangalore and North Karnataka], we have found that their are large number of customers who want to migrate, but hardly any opted to switch to Reliance or Tata Indicom. Major losers are Spice and Vodafone-Hutch-Essar and gainers are Bharti Airtel and BSNL.
Most consumers in India don't like the fact that they will be stuck with CDMA operators due to the handset locking issue. If Reliance and Tata Indicom want more customers, then they should be ready to introduce SIM based Handset so that consumers can switch between the two encouraging competition and quality of service. Looks like CDMA Telecom service is a big lobby under the guidance of Qualcomm sacrificing the interests of Indian consumer. |
| Published on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 9:43 AM |
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| Thursday, August 23, 2007 |
| Indians are Cell Phone Banking Savvy |
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 In a survey conducted by Sybase 365, it is found that citizens of the emerging economy are mobile savvy for Banking. Here is the outcome of the survey.
- 81% of the respondents are aware of Mobile Banking service offered by Indian Banks
- 49% of the respondents have used mobile banking at least once
- 36% are looking for banks which offer FREE Mobile Banking
- Due to increasing Credit / Debit Card frauds in India and no laws to protect the interest of consumers, 67% badly want Mobile Banking alerts for all their Card Transactions. Unlike in the US, In India the consumer is responsible for all fraudulent transactions until the card is cancelled.
- 35% would pay for instant fraud transaction reports and 41% would pay for freezing the card
So are the Indian banks listening to what consumers want ? ICICI Bank provides SMS alerts for Debit Card Transactions and I am unsure of Credit Cards. |
| Published on Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 11:14 AM |
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| Wednesday, August 22, 2007 |
| Nokia on Massive Damage Control Exercise |
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Nokia, the world's largest cell phone manufacturer is on a massive damage control exercise after the BL-5C series battery crisis. As per latest reports, Nokia is likely to replace 300,000 batteries in India alone. So far 95,000 batteries have been replaced. D Shivakumar, MD & VP - Mobile Phones, Nokia India said,
ICA pointed out that a warranty of batteries is only 6 months in India, from that point of view, some people argue we shouldn't have issued this advisory, but we disagree, anything concerning consumers, consumer has the right to know. Pankaj Mohindroo, President at Indian Cellular Association - ICA said,
It's a very responsible act by Nokia. Most of these batteries were not even under warranty period. Nokia will benefit in the long run. Vodafone Essar and Bharti Airtel executives came in support of Nokia during the crisis and praised its efforts. Separately, you should know that Nokia is a Network Equipment Vendor to both of these companies. |
| Published on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 12:47 PM |
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| Saturday, August 18, 2007 |
| VSNL - trueroots international calling service |
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Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) has announced the launch of Trueroot, an international calling service that allows people from South Asia residing in the United States to reliably, securely and economically reach out and connect with their family and friends. Tata's controlled VSNL woke up from their slumber 3 years after Reliance and a year after Bharti Airtel introduced similar services.
The trueroots service can be purchased online through a user friendly web portal [currently by invitation] or by calling VSNL customer service directly, 365 days a year. It offers advanced features including a prepaid recharge option, which allows a calling account to be recharged. Other features include instant recognition of calling line ID for PIN-less dialing from up to 5 registered phone numbers, the ability to make up to three follow-on calls without having to redial the access number, speed dial capabilities for up to 5 frequently dialed numbers, and last number redial. |
| Published on Saturday, August 18, 2007 at 5:30 PM |
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| Tuesday, August 14, 2007 |
| Nokia BL-5C Battery Replacement Site |
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 Nokia has informed us that some batteries manufactured in association with Matsushita have been faulty and their are more than 100 cases reported that they overheat and damage the phones. However, not all are faulty and only some shipped between Dec-05 and Nov-06 have this problem.
Check for your battery for BL-5C code as shown aside. If so then visit the Nokia website and enter the 26 digits to check if yours is one that needs to be replaced for FREE.
You can check on the Nokia Battery Replacement Page here. |
| Published on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 at 7:11 PM |
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| Thursday, August 09, 2007 |
| Geodesic's Mundu on iPhone |
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 Geodesic Information Systems Ltd just a while ago announced a brand new member of their Mundu mobile products line - Mundu IM: iPhone edition.
Geodesic has designed and optimized this product specifically for the Apple iPhone, and it is the only IM application that provides users the unique look and feel that they have come to expect from native iPhone applications. The iPhone, equipped with the most advanced web browsing capabilities ever on mobile phones, ushers in a completely new generation of mobile devices.
However, the iPhone does not include a native instant messaging client. Geodesic leveraged the iPhone platform to enable its users to experience the power and convenience of instant messaging while on the move. With Mundu IM - iPhone Edition, iPhone users have access to seamless chat across leading IM services through a single chat window. |
| Published on Thursday, August 09, 2007 at 12:45 AM |
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| Thursday, August 02, 2007 |
| Tata Indicom + Spice Dual Mode Handsets. |
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 Spice Mobile was the first to introduce dual mode handset models in India - Spice D-88 and Spice D-80 which support both GSM as well CDMA based mobile connections.
The D-88 mobile supports GSM and CDMA active connections at the same time. On the other hand the D-80 can support two active GSM connections. This phone is suitable for folks who normally carry two phones - One Official and the other for Personal use.
Tata Indicom along with Samsung has introduced Samsung Duo - A dual mode handset. According to Samsung's website, you can use Two GSM or Two CDMA or One of each SIM cards. However, in India Tata Indicom [CDMA Mobile Service Provider] has not provided SIM cards. So maybe they will start with it now and RCom may follow them soon.
Samsung Duo is for sale on Tata Indicom's website ichoose.in for Rs 11,999.
Update: As on June-30th, 2007, 8% of Indian Cellular Phone users have two phones registered in their name. |
| Published on Thursday, August 02, 2007 at 10:34 AM |
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