The old adage of the business rule is that it takes ten times more cost to earn a customer than to retain one. I am sure no one high up in the mobile company has ever heard of this saying. Why spend crores on celebrity endors€m€nts and try to entice people with empty promises? However, since we do not have a regulator worth its name, this routinely is ignored. That is discussed later.
GSM mobile companies started their services as a Lifestyle and luxury product. I remember the atrocious rates they used to charge as a premium. The interest of the consumer be damned. Perhaps at that time this industry was besotted with high taxes and an indifferent government regulation. This did not help the matters at all. In fact overestimating the demand and the invisible middle cl@$$ potential, these companies fell over each other to buy out the spectrum and license. Much of the details remain out of scope here. However, fact of the matter is that until to date, voice calls remain prohibitive, perhaps with the exception of Reliance.
GSM companies have tried to communicate their message through various means and make people adopt the cell phones more out of necessity. The central aspect of any mobile service remains the billing. This one area remains ignored. There have been many complaints of customers who have been facing the wrong billing cycles or difficult to understand across the board tariffs. Incase one is not happy with the settlement, the only way out remains that of the consumer court. One knows how long the court cases can linger on.
More: Indian Telecom is a Farce
GSM mobile companies started their services as a Lifestyle and luxury product. I remember the atrocious rates they used to charge as a premium. The interest of the consumer be damned. Perhaps at that time this industry was besotted with high taxes and an indifferent government regulation. This did not help the matters at all. In fact overestimating the demand and the invisible middle cl@$$ potential, these companies fell over each other to buy out the spectrum and license. Much of the details remain out of scope here. However, fact of the matter is that until to date, voice calls remain prohibitive, perhaps with the exception of Reliance.
GSM companies have tried to communicate their message through various means and make people adopt the cell phones more out of necessity. The central aspect of any mobile service remains the billing. This one area remains ignored. There have been many complaints of customers who have been facing the wrong billing cycles or difficult to understand across the board tariffs. Incase one is not happy with the settlement, the only way out remains that of the consumer court. One knows how long the court cases can linger on.
More: Indian Telecom is a Farce