While speaking with a customer service rep today I happened to show my willingness to understand the data packages offered under the Tata Docomo 3G banner for Bengaluru city. This information is perhaps the first such information which is still not published for everyone’s benefit on the docomo website. Take a look and choose your pick. All these plans are valid only for postpaid 3G connections. For prepaid the first 100MB is free per month for two months and after that its 1p per 1kb which amounts to a whopping 10000 bucks for 1 GB which is insane.
For the postpaid connections the following packages hold good and are more reasonable by nature.
POSTPAID PLANS FOR BENGALURU
|
MRP (Rs)
|
LOCAL mins | DATA USAGE | STD mins |
| 350 | 500 | 150MB | 300 |
| 500 | 750 | 250MB | 450 |
| 750 | 1250 | 500MB | 750 |
| 1000 | 2000 | 1GB | 1200 |
| 2000 | 5000 | 2GB | 3000 |
BENEFITS: Anytime, Anywhere minutes ! Use them for ALL LOCAL & STD CALLS. Even when roaming on Tata Docomo networks.
BONUS OFFER: Postpaid customers activating till 31st December’10 get additional 100 MB data for 2 months.
Note : All the above packs are applicable for the INTERNET APN only.
HOW TO ACTIVATE 3G
Just send a message ACT 3G to 53333, and within seconds you should receive a confirmation that 3G is active. Go to APN settings, type TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET on the values for both internet and MMS and you are done. Ensure you have the 3G radio switched on (as in the case of apple iPhone for example). Wait for a while and enjoy the fast life !
The best way to choose a plan for yourself from here is to go to www.tatadocomo.com, choose 24/7 customer support by CHAT, and ask the rep you chat with to enable this plan for you. Calling customer care should also help!
HOW FAST IS TATA DOCOMO 3G
The time it takes from when you type a URL on your phone browser to when the DNS resolves the IP Address for that URL is very crucial in determining overall speeds for content download. This is unfortunately taking a few extra seconds of impatience on Docomo 3G. So typically upto 5 seconds you dont see any activity, and then suddenly content starts to download in huge bursts. Its not the experience you would get out of a PC say with a Reliance or BSNL broadband connection, but its not really bad either.
WHAT IS TATA DOCOMO 3G’s BAD PATCH ?
Well, I must say here that it is only the Signal quality that really determines how strong a 3G connection lasts with respect to consistency in data download and in this respect, Docomo are still very far away from other operators like Airtel or Uninor. Having said that statement, I observe that frequent signal variations (drops and rises) affect the real 3G experience making it not so enjoyable. Many a times, just walking out of the office to an open area makes 3G stronger, while within your home or office 3G drops to E(dge) and sometimes even E(dge) is not recognized at all. Signal varies from 5/5 to even 1/5 and no service in lifts, basements and higher floors of buildings. This is really bad and affects overall connectivity to an extent that making normal phone calls itself become impossible. Tata have a long way to go in first getting their act right which I am sure Airtel are good at though they would be pricey.
LOOK OUT FOR A COMPARISON VIDEO BETWEEN UNINOR 2G AND DOCOMO 3G – COMING SHORTLY !!
