3G Data Card - National Roaming

[labakkudas]

Hi,

I travel between Chennai and Mumbai, and need a 3G data card that works well in both cities. I prefer reliability/stability over speed, monthly usage will be around 9-12 GB.

I am looking to buy a data card in Chennai and use it in Mumbai, what are the roaming charges?

What provider do you recommend?

 

[raksrules]

I am pretty sure most of the providers will not charge for roaming for data packs / 3G etc. If you have Vodafone 3G in Chennai then get that since there is Vodafone 3G in Mumbai as well.

 

[prtk]

I am not sure of private players but according to my knowledge only BSNL has all India 3G license so only that would work across India. Also as your data usage is around 9-12 GB you could get BSNL data voucher at around 1100 and any private player will provide only around 4-5 GB for that amount. Entire India is covered by BSNL - in Mumbai and Delhi its via MTNL but its seamless roaming. When I went there and selected 3G I could automatically connect without any issues in most places.

 

[Konquerror]

I have Idea 3G postpaid data card from Mumbai and I'm using it in Bangalore wthout any problem. There are no roaming charges and since Idea doesn't hav 3G in Karnataka, I'm roaming on Airtel 3G. Service is pretty good and I'm happy with it.

 

[prtk]

I have Idea 3G postpaid data card from Mumbai and I'm using it in Bangalore wthout any problem. There are no roaming charges and since Idea doesn't hav 3G in Karnataka, I'm roaming on Airtel 3G. Service is pretty good and I'm happy with it.

Well this case I guess is already in the pipeline and sooner than later this would be stopped. Private companies simply bid for spectrum in certain pockets and are now giving roaming across India to all customers, which is not right and against license terms. As per my understanding only the circles in which they have license are they legally permitted to provide 3G services to customers. Otherwise whats the use of BSNL paying such a hefty price for all india spectrum? They could have very well bid in just once circle and then provided roaming to all its customers. Not only did they bid, they have paid and matched the highest bid in each circle and taken a Pan India License for 3G. I really salute the Government Enterprise for taking such a bold step and providing cost effective solutions to their customers.

 

[labakkudas]

I am not sure of private players but according to my knowledge only BSNL has all India 3G license so only that would work across India. Also as your data usage is around 9-12 GB you could get BSNL data voucher at around 1100 and any private player will provide only around 4-5 GB for that amount. Entire India is covered by BSNL - in Mumbai and Delhi its via MTNL but its seamless roaming. When I went there and selected 3G I could automatically connect without any issues in most places.

That looks pretty good, how is MTNL's network in Mumbai? Reliable enough? I'm using Aircel 3G in Kolkata and Airtel 3G in Chennai. Very happy with the service but way too costly to be using it alone (I used my college's 200 Mbit network for downloading).

 

[JuGGa]

Well this case I guess is already in the pipeline and sooner than later this would be stopped. Private companies simply bid for spectrum in certain pockets and are now giving roaming across India to all customers, which is not right and against license terms. As per my understanding only the circles in which they have license are they legally permitted to provide 3G services to customers. Otherwise whats the use of BSNL paying such a hefty price for all india spectrum? They could have very well bid in just once circle and then provided roaming to all its customers. Not only did they bid, they have paid and matched the highest bid in each circle and taken a Pan India License for 3G. I really salute the Government Enterprise for taking such a bold step and providing cost effective solutions to their customers.

No, you're confused. The main melodrama was due to the issue that companies were using "inter" circle roaming pact to provide "intra" circle 3G services. In other words, if I belong to mumbai and go to Chennai, then the company I use HAS to provide me 3G services irrespective of it's license existence there or not. What matters is that, under this hood, companies shouldn't provide services to local customers in the circle they don't have license, bu they were found doing this which created all the fuss. This actually was possible due to a loophole in clauses in inter/intra circle roaming pact allowed by TRAI.

 

[prtk]

No, you're confused. The main melodrama was due to the issue that companies were using "inter" circle roaming pact to provide "intra" circle 3G services. In other words, if I belong to mumbai and go to Chennai, then the company I use HAS to provide me 3G services irrespective of it's license existence there or not. What matters is that, under this hood, companies shouldn't provide services to local customers in the circle they don't have license, bu they were found doing this which created all the fuss. This actually was possible due to a loophole in clauses in inter/intra circle roaming pact allowed by TRAI.

Hi, if my reading of the law is right, then according to me its totally illegal of companies to provide 3G services to any one outside the circles they bid on. Hence, say if the mobile provider has license for Mumbai and not for Chennai then under no circumstances can the mobile provider provide 3G services in Chennai. I guess mobile companies thought they would get away with it. Like I mentioned earlier if that was the case BSNL would have bid only for one circle and then provided services across India. As a Government Enterprise BSNL did was was correct according to law. They got a PAN India license so that they could provide seamless connectivity across India. Hence, coming back to your point

The main melodrama was due to the issue that companies were using "inter" circle roaming pact to provide "intra" circle 3G services. In other words, if I belong to mumbai and go to Chennai, then the company I use HAS to provide me 3G services irrespective of it's license existence there or not.

Legally this is not possible because the company has not bid for spectrum in that area, then how can it provide you 3G services because it would not have the spectrum in that roaming area.

 

[devesh38]

i also keep travelling between Chennai and Mumbai. I have airtel in Chennai and same 3g plans work in Mumbai as well without any raming charges.

 

[prtk]

i also keep travelling between Chennai and Mumbai. I have airtel in Chennai and same 3g plans work in Mumbai as well without any raming charges.

Yes as far as I am aware Airtel has license in both Mumbai and Chennai so it should work without any issues and they can legally provide 3G in these areas. The above discussion was that say if in once circle the company has license and doesnot have in another say for example if Airtel has license in Chennai and if you to to Kerala then Airtel doesnot have 3G license there. So if you roam between Chennai and Kerala then technically 3G should not work as they dont have license. But what these private operators are doing is they have done an internal tieup between themselves and are providing 3G services to each others customers. This is legally wrong because then no one would bid for Pan India license and all would have done tieups to provide 3G services.

 

[JuGGa]

Hi, if my reading of the law is right, then according to me its totally illegal of companies to provide 3G services to any one outside the circles they bid on. Hence, say if the mobile provider has license for Mumbai and not for Chennai then under no circumstances can the mobile provider provide 3G services in Chennai. I guess mobile companies thought they would get away with it. Like I mentioned earlier if that was the case BSNL would have bid only for one circle and then provided services across India. As a Government Enterprise BSNL did was was correct according to law. They got a PAN India license so that they could provide seamless connectivity across India. Hence, coming back to your point. Legally this is not possible because the company has not bid for spectrum in that area, then how can it provide you 3G services because it would not have the spectrum in that roaming area.

You didn't got my point. See, if you a company has got license in state A, not in B, but if you travel in state B, won't you be able use mobile services ? This is possible due to the company's agreement with a company having valid license in that state. Same is with 3G services. A consumer is fully liable and supposed to get 3G services at PAN India level, even if the company is not having valid license in a particular state, and companies are doing same.

 

[prtk]

You didn't got my point. See, if you a company has got license in state A, not in B, but if you travel in state B, won't you be able use mobile services ? This is possible due to the company's agreement with a company having valid license in that state. Same is with 3G services. A consumer is fully liable and supposed to get 3G services at PAN India level, even if the company is not having valid license in a particular state, and companies are doing same.

No I am fully aware of the point you are trying to make. 2G and 3G are totally different spectrum and application areas. If I am not wrong within the law and framework of license, under 2G I guess roaming was a part of the agreement and you could allow roaming. But incase of 3G there are no such provisions and hence illegal. I am no legal expert but based on my basic understanding I feel what private companies are doing is wrong. Like I mentioned earlier if that was the case BSNL would not have had to pay such a huge amount for buying Pan India spectrum and they could have very well tied up with other companies.

 

[JuGGa]

^No, roaming is also allowed in 3G networks. Why the hell they wouldn't ? Customers will be at much loss.

 

[santoshdhn]

No I am fully aware of the point you are trying to make. 2G and 3G are totally different spectrum and application areas. If I am not wrong within the law and framework of license, under 2G I guess roaming was a part of the agreement and you could allow roaming. But incase of 3G there are no such provisions and hence illegal. I am no legal expert but based on my basic understanding I feel what private companies are doing is wrong. Like I mentioned earlier if that was the case BSNL would not have had to pay such a huge amount for buying Pan India spectrum and they could have very well tied up with other companies.

Mobile companies can provide 3G roaming facilities to customers even if they do not have licenses in other circles.
But, the problem is that the Mobile companies have started giving 3G services to their customers in their home networks where they do not have any 3G licenses but only 2G license.
This is the case which is lying under Supreme Court.
2G and 3G are different but the same law applies on both. In 2G also, an operator gives roaming facility in all other circles, but he cannot give 2G facility to people in their home network without a 2G license in that circle.