NEW DELHI: Every Indian Web user has been eagerly waiting for 3G to arrive in the nation, and now, it's finally here. But the question of the hour is, is this what it was meant to be?
Well, if to the Indian mobile phone operators, 3G means call drops, poor coverage, and low uploading speeds, then they've actually come up to their own expectations! I barely get any 3G coverage where I live in New Delhi.
They've placed all the towers all around their headquarters, but nowhere in reach of the daily consumer. Why'd we pay a thousand bucks for something that doesn't actually work? The only operators I think are doing a good job on providing 3G services are BSNL and Reliance Communications.
And why is it so you ask? Less crowd. MTNL and RCOM do not have as much subscribers as Airtel and Vodafone, so they are able to provide high speeds to their customers, as they don't have many people on their 3G network.
I myself have tested all the 3G services I mentioned above, and believe me, even if the downloading speed increased, there's no help with the uploads!
After looking at all the speed test results of various carriers, it's clear that none of them is constant. I talked to some of my friends, using various carriers for 3G, and all of them had only one thing to say – It's unpredictable! You never know when it might give you lightning speed, and when it might just act as a turtle.
So, to chose the best one for yourself, we recommend you run speedtests on your phones on a prepaid plan, before going for the postpaid. But still, if you need more assistance, I'll recommend you go for BSNL, Vodafone, or Reliance.
Just give Airtel a break for now. Hopefully they improve their 3G network in the near future, and prove to be a worthy competitor in this race of becoming the best service provider!
In the end, to sum up this report, I'd like to get straight to the point. 3G is currently not stable in India, and isn't worth paying the heavy bills. Hopefully, in the coming months, the services get better, and there is better coverage.