Cellphones in US – Sucks
March 15th, 2006 at 08:22am
Cell Phones. One area where India rocks. No questions.
Ok, lets see the differences :
- 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 US, almost all the providers ask you to sign a 1 year or 2 year contract. In India … “What contract?? Are you kidding?”
- In US, you get a mobile phone with your plan. This is good one way, but then you will have to sign a one year contract for sure (and pay some money for the handset…offcourse less than the market price – but this depends on the plan and the phone in question)!. In India, you have the freedom and flexibility to select your phone, based on your budget, from Rs 500 to 25,000! And you can change your handset anytime (except CDMA providers)
- In US, the airtime charges (or the call charges) are way too high!! There is air-time charge for incoming calls too!. In India, incoming is *free*, and the outgoing calls tooo are hell lot cheaper compared to US. Infact, I had almost forgot the term “air time charges” !
- In US, some plans charge you for receiving SMS !.. Nice way to get screwed!. In India, I don’t know of any plans where you get charged for receiving SMSes.
- In US, sending out SMS is pretty expensive (from 4 cents to 40 cents!!!). In India…….its 1/10th the price!
- In US, prepaid SIMS are contract free, but are way too expensive. i.e., the postpaid plans them self are expensive, but prepaid is more expensive. In India, the call charges on pre-paid and post-paid are almost comparable.
- One more point is, in US, with most of the plans, you get some free minutes. If you are within the limit, then you are safe. But if you exceed, then you will be charged like crazy. And the minutes are used even if you call a Toll Free number! Most plans count the minutes for incoming call too!
I also noticed that in US, Nokia handsets are not that popular. I haven’t seen many people use Nokia handsets. I found more people using Motorola handsets.
Clearly, India is far ahead! Hope to see similar progress in other areas too!
Tags: cell, cell phones, gsm, handsets, india, mobile, mobile phones, phones, popular, telecom, telecommunication, US phones, US Wireless, wireless
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21 Comments »
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when compared to UD india is like heaven! its unbeleivable that the receiver gets penalized!
Comment by karthik aka prk — March 15, 2006 #
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)
Comment by Appy — March 15, 2006 #
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.
Comment by PK — March 15, 2006 #
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.
Comment by Vin — March 15, 2006 #
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.
Comment by Harsh — March 15, 2006 #
Arjun:
Nice one!
Comment by AJ — March 15, 2006 #
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…
Comment by Nagarathna — March 16, 2006 #
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.
Comment by Melody — March 17, 2006 #
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.
Comment by Rahul — March 18, 2006 #
@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.
Comment by Arjun — March 18, 2006 #