Tagged: reliance

Double talk time on Reliance!


I’ve written at length about Airtel’s [[http://airtelcallhome.com|Call Home]] service [[http://floatingsun.net/blog/2006/12/18/780/|here]] and [[http://floatingsun.net/blog/2006/12/18/779/|here]]. I’m really happy to see that Reliance has responded quickly by slashing its rates to 7.9 c/min. And I just got an email from Reliance India Call announcing their own **double talk time** offer. The offer is valid from 21st December 2006 18:00 hrs IST upto 31st January 2007 23:59 hrs IST, and valid for new registrations upto 15th January 2007 23:59 hrs IST.

Whatever small incentive I had for still using Airtel has just gone down the drain. And despite Reliance’s deftly worded email, its obvious that this offer is in direct competition/response to Airtel’s double talk time promotion offer. But hey, what do I have to complain, I’m loving this new price war! In fact, I’m also giving myself a pat on the back for feeling that I’ve paid my little part in the course of events by trying to raise awareness about these services on this blog :-D Tata’s Reliable Calling, as before, remains my backup service, atleast until they give me a toll-free number to call on.

Airtel Call Home

This is for all you desis who have been using Reliance India Call to call India. So far the space has been largely monopolized by Reliance (since the demise of Bigzoo). The call quality is good, but the rates are just about OK. I’d been waiting a long time to see some competition, which is always good for end users. Airtel just launched Airtel Call Home.

Check out the rates — its only 8c per min!! (vs. Reliance’s 12-18c per min). Not only that, they have an introductory promotion where you get double the talk time on your account creation and your first recharge before Jan 31st. I must say that their website and customer service are pathetic though. The website barely works — 75% of the functionality is broken. And so far I haven’t managed to get to Customer Service (80% of the time I couldn’t get the number, the remaining times when I did get through, I was put on hold for about 30min each time with no response). But still, its a good start and hopefully both Airtel and Reliance will be pressurized to improve their offerings.