Cellphones in US - Sucks

21 Comments Add your own

• 1. karthik aka prk  |  March 15th, 2006 at 2:07 pm (subscribed to comments)

  when compared to UD india is like heaven! its unbeleivable that the receiver gets penalized!

• 2. Appy  |  March 15th, 2006 at 2:17 pm (subscribed to comments)

  Wow u just about nailed the point.. I wanted a mobile from the US which i saw on amzon.. asked my cousing to get it wen she comes down here .. she said uhh noway!!!!!!!!!! CDMA is the tech that sells out here and she had to loan her mobile to her brother who had come on a onsite project. She was like gettin the jitters about the bill and the time that SIL was taking over the phone… i told her chilax .. wats the big deal how much can the bill me … Pronto she saod why dont u pay it sweetheart… the whole lot of stuff that u have written unfurled and i had only one thing to tell in return INCREDIBLE INDIA !!!!!!! (Wink) .. smiles .. serious we mean realtime business and customer convenience (with a Cap C)

• 3. PK  |  March 15th, 2006 at 8:24 pm

  The lesson to learn here, is never do ANYTHING in the US without proper research!! From buying airline tickets, to renting/fueling cars,apartments, to cell phone contracts….everything needs proper research.

  You blink and you could miss a good deal. It is a way of promoting competition between providers. Some providers give you the handset free with the contract and let you upgrade aswell….but like you said….’credit history’ is the magic word!!! It helps make people accountable for their actions.

• 4. Vin  |  March 15th, 2006 at 10:28 pm (subscribed to comments)

  Whatever the ‘credit history’ s**t is, with my experience here? I can proudly say that for a common man like me, India is THEEE (in caps) place to be. US sucks. Cellphones are just one area. There are so many others which outweigh the positives. I mean being poorer than a rich man costs you so heavily that you realize how good your own country has been to you for so many years.
  I am not being too emotional here. Its a FACT.

  For people who like the comfort, richness, lifestyle this may be the place. For me, its friendship, love, relations, attachment, helping hands in need, warmth, care, respect, natural feel is what matters more than cars, malls, supercenters, highways, roads. And it lacks bigtime in US.

  Even if you talk technology, I still think in the last 5 years urban India has made up for what used to lack before. I am sure the future will be so much better.

  India rocks !!! Ofcourse its Incredible India.

• 5. Harsh  |  March 15th, 2006 at 10:29 pm

  Hey nice report :) . I just like to add that you can change your CDMA handset too in India. This is somethings which is available for more than a year now. I am already using the third handset with the same number. This is for Reliance India Mobile I am talking.

• 6. AJ  |  March 15th, 2006 at 10:49 pm (subscribed to comments)

  Arjun:
  Nice one!

• 7. Nagarathna  |  March 16th, 2006 at 2:37 am (subscribed to comments)

  Hi Arjun,

  That was a very nice post, I have Cingular pre-paid phone and its costing me dearly..

  They have recently increased the international call rates. Last week, since i had to make urgent call to India (didnt hv calling card handy) directly dialled from the cell phone, and for a call that lasted 2 min 10 sec, i was charged $10.68!!!!! Then I came to know their ISD rates have increased from $0.89/min to $3.56/min :-|||

  Having a cell phone in US is really a costly affait…ufff…

• 8. Melody  |  March 17th, 2006 at 6:45 pm (subscribed to comments)

  I remember I met this very high profile American lady who proudly told me she was a “New York New Yorker” and she couldn’t even USE the darn cell phone…

  Guess so many people have probs with the cell comps that very few ppl actually use cells - unlike India where every ‘dhoodwala’ also owns a cell today.

• 9. Rahul  |  March 18th, 2006 at 8:06 am (subscribed to comments)

  I think you just twisted the facts to prove your point. I have a Cingular cell phone plan which gives me 1500 minutes nationwide, free weekend minutes nation wide(saturday and sundays are free to call anywere) , free night minutes nationwide ( nights starting at 7.00 p.m to 6.00 a.m next morning) free calls mobile to mobile( cingular to cingular), and I pay only $40.00 a month for all this.
  When I was visiting India I subscribed for the Airtel cellphone service and they charged me Re1.50 for every minute I used,and for using 1500 minutes the total comes around RS 2250,which is around $52.00,that too unlike the US there were’nt any perks such as mobile to mobile free minutes, free weekend minutes, free nights, and they also charged me extra if I called anyone out of Karnataka ( whereas in th US it is the same rate nation wide).If airtime charges are so cheap in India why do people give so many “missed calls” rather than talk to a person.
  By the way you have an excellent blogsite with interesting topics, I will visit often.

• 10. Arjun  |  March 18th, 2006 at 9:38 am

  @Rahul : what if someone calls you up on your cigular at 12 noon and speaks to you for 2 hrs?
  :)

  I am sure you might have had that plan some 1 year back. I dont find a single plan as of today which offers such a rate!

  This it the closest match that i found.

  Not fact twisting. this is reality as of today!

  BTW, in india, just like US, you can get some of these perks at some nominal price. Eg : unilimited SMSes, or Unlimited calls to some numbers etc. But its still much cheaper compared to US.

  While at india, i had 3 (1 bsnl, and 2 airtel) cellphones with me (me, my wife, parents)

  Airtel - I had to pay only only around 200 Rs per month per phone - average
  BSNL - was much cheaper - prepaid one.

• 11. Mario  |  March 22nd, 2006 at 1:00 pm

  Standardization of Phone numbers that’s one area U.S rocks. In the U.S, all companies follow the same dialing instructions. e.g All phone numbers start with an 3 digit area code and then the phone number. If you are dialing outside your area code then you add a 1 in the front. This system is follwed by both cell and land lines companies. e.g: in West los angeles all cellphones and landlines start with (310) and the number follows. so it looks something like this(310)878-9980. If you are dialing some one out of this area code then you add 1-(323)789-6789. So Simple!

  When I was in India I found out that every cell phone comapny had their own areacode and phone numbers, and land lines and cell phones do not share the same area codes. So basically you had to memorize the companies first four digits to see if you will be charged extra when you call another company’s cell phone. This stuff totally drove me crazy. It seemed like I had to take college course in learning the dialing instructions of Indian phones.Why can’t the companies standardize the phone numbers ?.

• 12. Shesh  |  March 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am (subscribed to comments)

  Arjun, I do find Indian telecom market better than US in many ways.

  But there are few things where US (telecom) scores better than India.

  1. In US there is no telecom circle funda. Calling rates is common throughout US.

  2. Getting a postpaid connection might be tough. But getting pre-paid here is quite simple. You can get a pre-paid connection here without credit history, without SSN number, without proof of address/identity. Just log-on to http://www.cingular.com & you can place an order for a pre-paid phone with connection for $30. You can also walk to a telecom company store and buy a pre-paid phone with connection without even showing your identity (although this can become a security issue to the US). In India one needs proof of identity & address to purchase pre-paid connections also.

  3. If one chooses the right plans, the calling rates are not too expensive in US if used in the right manner. Cingular has a pre-paid plan for $50 per month. In this plan one can have 400 minutes of airtime during peak hours & unlimited calls during off-peak hours which is 9 PM to 7AM and full weekends. These unlimited calls can be done anywhere in the US and to any phone on any network! Typically people in US don’t make personal calls during peak hours (which are normally the office hours). So, these plans work out very well for the US people. More than 90% people in US have got plans which offer night and weekend free.
  In India this kind of an offer (night & weekend free) can’t be offered by any operator because in the Indian telecom industry there is a concept of IUC (interconnection usage charges) because of which your operator/telecom company will have to pay the other operator if the call lands on a phone outside your telecom operators network. US doesn’t have IUC charges & that’s the reason why incoming is charged in US unlike in India where the operator is earning money for incoming calls from the callers operator.

  4. Other than mobile I like the concept of IP phone (which is equivalent to landline but works on broadband internet). IP phone is not yet legalized in India. We have a IP phone at home (in US) for which we pay $25 per month. We can do unlimited calls to any phone anywhere in the US on any network at any time & there are no airtime charges!!

• 13. Shesh  |  March 27th, 2006 at 12:02 am (subscribed to comments)

  I forgot to mention, in US there is no roaming charges whereever you go within US. In India roaming charges are very expensive.

• 14. dharma  |  March 29th, 2006 at 5:03 am (subscribed to comments)

  hi arjun,

  i totally agree with you when it comes yo mobile facility in US. had a very good experience myself.

  i was asked to give a deposit of $500 from t-mobile. if the contract of 1 year was voilated, i would have ot pay $200, adding to $700 in total.

  used to the crazy mobile hype of india, i am at a loss here without a cell. the modles, be it motorola or nokia is way back in looks and facilities. From fm to cameras to hell-a-lot options we are way ahead in the mobile technology.

  Roaming charges are the only thing to be considered in US, but its not very expensive in India either.

  A regular corporate Hutch plan would go : rs 250 monthly- hutch to hutch unlimted free-600 mins talk time free- rest 40ps- 100 sms free-rest at 30ps-rs25 sms plan(optional) gives u unlimited sms free-landline 99ps-roaming rs1.50

  so, even if you are a mobile addcit, you dont spend more than rs 500 / max. almost $12 ???

  way to go India…..

• 15. srivas  |  March 31st, 2006 at 9:35 am (subscribed to comments)

  Hi arjun,
  You are out to prove “HAMARA BHARAT MAHAN” Regards
  Thanks for the INFO, one more thing to feel proud of India

• 16. Sunil  |  April 4th, 2006 at 4:56 am (subscribed to comments)

  I had been in US for 3 years and I had a very good plan. The only drawback was the one year contract but that was nothing compared to the features of the plan. I had 600 day time minutes and night (between 9PM to 8PM) and weekend free to ANY network. All this for US$35. The customer service was impeccable. If I enact the same usage on my Airtel connection……Brrrrr!!!! Might have to declare bankruptcy. The plans which are in US is perfect if you are staying for a more than a year. If you are on a short term vacation there are calling cards which can be purchased online. I used 9278.com. They have good rates for both local and international calls.

• 17. Vinod  |  June 12th, 2006 at 5:58 pm (subscribed to comments)

  Look like most of you people have no idea about where to get your cell phone in the US. First of all nobody just go to a store and buy the cell phone, you do your research to find the best price. I have tmobile, I pay $35 for 1000 any time min, nights and weekends are free. I also get 400 free text messages. You sign a year or more contract because there are too many providers. Once your contracts up, you can go to a different provider with better price and keep the same tel#. As far as the credit status, that is the way of life. That is the modern way of punishing people who are not responsible for their actions, unlike creditors india who go to people’s house and beat them up for not paying the bills. Next time, before you post something like this, do a thorough research.

• 18. IM  |  July 5th, 2006 at 7:09 am

  “In US, first of all, its very difficult to get a cell phone connection!. You need to have a good “credit history” to get a cellphone. If you don’t have a credit history, you need to pay some deposits. And guess what? I was told that I need to deposit $750 to get a cell phone connection since I did not have any credit history!!! In India, almost everyone can manage to get a cell phone service. No major deposits etc!”

  In India if you are on a post-paid plan, then you give a deposit irrespective of your credit history. The amount varies based on wether you have long distance, international, etc. In US, you pay the deposit only if you have good credit history. There is none of these hassles if you are on a pre-paid plan. Infact, you could get a SIM card, recharge cards, phone equipment etc. without having the trouble to give photographs, address proof, identity proof, etc as in India. These can be purchased on ebay at much cheaper rates than MRP and get them delivered to your home too! Imagine that happening in India!

• 19. IM  |  July 17th, 2006 at 9:10 am

  “In US, almost all the providers ask you to sign a 1 year or 2 year contract. In India … “What contract?? Are you kidding?””

  Well, the contract is required only for the post-paid plan and you get a nice phone for free, or better than free (you get some money back after rebates etc.) Please chack out various offers available at http://www.amazon.com. Have a phone already and spend very limited time on phone? Then get a pre-paid service and there are no contracts.

• 20. anonym  |  August 17th, 2006 at 12:40 pm (subscribed to comments)

  all fine….what abt the free unlimited domestic calls within US and canada that service providers offer here after 9 and on weekends????what abt the family plans they offer??? do any of the providers in India offer that???
  std frm cells sucks in India…..they just rob
  all this coz there still isnt enuf competition to drive service providers

• 21. ASYA  |  January 16th, 2007 at 1:53 pm (subscribed to comments)

  Hello,My name is Asya Perry and I wanted to know could I get a free cell phone without putting in my social security or my credit card number or the phone doesn’t have to be free?If so could you direct me to the place that does that? Thank You!

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