If you have been waiting to buy that mobile phone and were hoping that after the price war between cellphone companies like Hutch, Airtel, Idea, CellOne and Dolphin and WLL mobile phone providers like Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom settled, chances are that you are more confused now than ever before. For such customers, here’s a simple guide to help them choose the best package to suit their budget. The one big difference between cellphones and WLL-mobile phone tariff packages now and six months ago is that cellphones are now offering free incoming calls, which was the main reason why WLL phones seemed cheaper earlier. So call it competition between cellphone companies and WLL companies, the one big advantage in the recent round of price wars is that cellphones have begun to offer free incoming calls, half your mobile phone bill! What’s more, WLL-mobile phones which were supposed to be at par with basic landline phones to offer a three-minute call for Rs 1.20 (or 40 paise per minute) are not so cheap now. Thanks to the IUC or what is called the interconnect user charge (blame the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India if these things sound so complicated) what you now need to look at is the fine print in the ads selling WLL-mobile. Most WLL services now cost Rs 1.20 per minute or thereabouts instead of the earlier promised Rs 1.20 for three minutes. So if you are a new entrant to the mobile club, here are the things you should watch out for: what is the entry price or how much do you have to pay upfront for getting into a service. Most WLL mobile service companies force you to buy instruments from them as well as down payment to become their customer for a longer period of time. What you need to weigh are the options, whether you want to be stuck to the service because of the strings attached or whether you are would like to be free to move out in case you anted to. The advantage in cellphones is that you don’t have to buy the instrument from the service provider and hence you have options to buy cheap phones from the grey market or even second hand sets. In WLL mobile, your initial investment is high and then you cannot usually use the same handset to move to another company. At the entry level, while WLL phones are slightly cheaper offering rental of Rs 200 per month compared to the minimum offered by cellular company Idea which offers Rs 269. The per minute rates for cellphones are Rs 2 during daytime and Re 1 at night — an average of Rs 1.50 compared to Rs 1.20 per minute on a WLL phone. So that doesn’t leave too much of a difference in rates. And with incoming calls being free on both networks, the choice is really tough. The one good thing that has happened in the last few months is that WLL phones which were earlier bulky and not so fashionable, have now become very sleek and chic. So looks are not really something which would make you strike them off your list. But for customers who have been using cellphones for a while and would hate to change their number for fear of losing out on that call which could have changed their lives or made them a millionaire — the benefits are here to stay. They needn’t buy an additional phone or switch from one to another just because WLL phones are cheaper. Finally the customer is the king.
