Mobiles or smart phones have become an integral part of our lives. These mean everything to us. It is a fact that mobile phones have a lot of features to offer which makes them an ideal instrument to be used daily. In the early days, when we used to live far from our homes or relatives, we had to write letters to them to contact them. And the worst fact was that we had to wait for long for the letter to teach them and again to receive their letter.
So it can be said that the system of sending and receiving letters was a long and wait less process. And with the advancement of technology, the invention of mobiles phones was made. And surely this was a big change in our lives. Mobile phones did manage to bring a lot of changes to the lifestyle of people.
There was no more the wait to contact with others because by using the phones, we just need to dial the numbers and talk to them directly. Then came the Internet which basically means International Networking. So now with the help of internet most of the things like chatting, marketing etc. could be done. So, how do we get this internet to fulfil our demands?
This internet was provided by the networking companies. They set up networking towers all around the country and these you tweets were the providers of the networking waves. And these waves are captured in the small cards called SIM card or Subscriber Identification Module cards, which are then inserted inside the phones and used.
So it can be rightly said that mobiles and mobile networks are one of the most important things required in our day-to-day lives. Now the question is that with a lot of networking companies selling their SIM cards, which is the best one to go for? Which is the network that provides good call quality, Internet service and data free charges? So let us look at some of the top mobile network service providers in India.
Here is the List of Top Mobile Networks In India:
Airtel
Airtel is the oldest and perhaps the most trusted network provider in India. It is also known as Bharti Airtel and is an Indian Telecommunication Service provider working across 18 countries including South Asia and Africa.
It is currently the third largest mobile network operator in India and second largest in the world with almost 411.42 million users and counting.
It was founded on 7th July 1995 by Sunil Bharti Mittal and the headquarters is situated in New Delhi. It is one of the chief provider of Fixed Line Telephone, Broadband, Mobile network, Satellite Television, Digital Television etc. Airtel is considered as the Pioneer of mobile networking in India and is trusted by most of the users because of the services it provides.
Merits
- Airtel is the oldest network in India and has millions of users all around the world. There must be done reasons behind it. First is the number of towers Airtel has. Airtel has been in the telecom sector for a long time now and hence it has a lot of towers all around the country. So you be sure of getting calls and low speed internet even in remote areas.
- Having an appropriate network can help save battery too! If you are an Airtel user and don’t need high speed internet at the moment, you can easily switch to the 2G mode thus saving battery.
- According to some users, Airtel had the best internet speed, better than other service providers.
Demerits
- Airtel plans are costly. They are much more expensive than the others and that is a hard truth.
- The customer service is really bad according to many users. The problems of the customers aren’t solved in time!
Popular Offers
- Rs. 19 – 200 MB data and unlimited calls
- Rs. 49 – 100 MB data with Rs. 38.52 talktime for 28 days
- Rs. 149 – 2 GB data with 300 text messages and unlimited calls for 28 days. Added features are united music downloads for free from Wynk and 370+ live TV channels and 10000+ movies on Airtel Xstream app.
- Rs. 398 – 3 GB data per day, unlimited calls and 100 text messages per day for 28 days. Added are Rs. 100 cashback on FASTag, free 4-week course on Shaw Academy and unlimited music from Wynk app.
- Rs. 2,398 – 1.5 GB data, unlimited calls and 100 text messages per day. Added are all the same offers as stated above.
JIO
There isn’t any person not aware about Jio. Reliance Jio entered the telecommunications market just like a storm and surpassed all the competitors within a short time frame. Jio is the product of Reliance Networking company and was established on 15th February 2007. It was launched as a beta project on 27th December 2015 and was officially made available on 5th September 2016.
And the rest is nothing but history. According to reports, Jio is the largest mobile network operator in India and is the third largest operator in the world with approximately 369.93 million subscribers and counting. Jio is being used mainly because of the data and call services it offers at a very low price. And with the release of the LYF Jio phone, the seeking became double.
Merits
- Jio was the first telecom company to launch the free 4G service named LTE which ensures high speed internet better than 2G and 3G.
- Jio calling is completely based on Voice over, which is known as VoLTE which gives high quality calling services.
- Jio provides free calls and SMS service to its customers. But as per rule of TRAI, the maximum number of messages can be 100 only.
- Jio provides free roaming services all over the country whereas the others charge for the same.
Demerits
- There is no cheap data plans like Rs. 50/GB. And one has to recharge with any tariff plan to enjoy calling and messaging services.
- There is no call or messaging service for the non-VoLTE mobile phones.
- While other networking companies provide unlimited night data from 11PM to 7AM, Jio provides it for a mere the hours from 2AM to 5AM.
Popular Offers
- Rs. 399 – 1.5 GB data per day with 100 SMS and unlimited calls for 84 days.
- Rs. 444 – 168 GB data with unlimited Jio-to-Jio calls and 1000 Jio-non Jio minutes and 100 SMS per day.
- Rs. 299 – 3 GB data and 100 SMS per day with unlimited Jio-to-Jio calls for 29 days.
- Rs. 1699 – 1.5 GB data and 100 SMS per day with unlimited Jio-to-Jio calls for a year.
- Rs. 498 – 2 GB data and 100 SMS per day with Jio-to-Jio calls for 91 days.
VODAFONE
Vodafone is a British multinational Telecommunication company predominantly operating in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. The name Vodafone comes from Voice Data Fone which reflects the provision of voice and data services for a mobile phone. It was stated back on 16th September 1991 and is ranked 4th most used network worldwide with around 313 million active customers.
It is a trusted expert in providing Fixed line telephone, mobile network, Broadband, Digital and Internet television etc. and has a lot of subsidiaries all around Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe. It has been in the telecom sector for about 28 years now and there isn’t any doubt that it is one of the most trusted networks.
Merits
- Vodafone is has an excellent network coverage area. It has a lot of towers all around the working stations and provides excellent network.
- Vodafone is known to have a great networking speed. Internet speed is what maximum people like to have and Vodafone provides just the same.
- It has a really responsive customer care service. The problems faced by the customers are solved within a limited time frame and hence it has managed to keep the customers happy for a long time now.
- The services offered by Vodafone are with paying for. According to records, customers get all the offers all-in-one whatever they pay for!
Demerits
- With Jio bringing cheaper tariffs, the same provided by Vodafone seem costlier.
- With age, the services provided by the company have become less appealing.
- As reported by users, Vodafone network fluctuates in remote areas thus giving no room for quality calls.
Popular Offers
- Rs. 10 – Rs. 7.47 talktime.
- Rs. 19 – Unlimited talktime, 100 text messages and 150 MB data for 2 days.
- Rs. 39 – Talktime of Rs. 30 with 100MB data for 14 days.
- Rs. 129 – Unlimited calls, 300 text messages and 2 GB of data.
- Rs. 2399 – Unlimited talktime, 1.5 GB data and 100 messages per day for a year.
BSNL
If you have been living in this world for a long time now, then there isn’t any chance that you don’t know about BSNL. BSNL has been the provider of networking services from the day most of us weren’t born! BSNL basically stands for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, which in English means Indian Communications Corporation Limited.
It was officially incorporated by the Indian government on 1st October 2000. It is India’s first and only state owned networking organisation and is the largest fixed telephony provider with about 60% share of the market. It is the largest wireline telecommunication network in India and is the fourth largest wireless networking company.
It provides mobile services, internet, Broadband, Internet television, Fixed Line Telephone and IPTV all over India and also serves in Mauritius.
Merits
- BSNL provides somewhat the lowest tariff plans than other networks.
- It has been in the networking market for long and since it is a state owned company, it has wide network coverage in both rural and urban areas.
- It provides some low cost but competitive plans in the current telephone service market.
- The customer care service is very well oriented and co-operative.
- Recently BSNL announced free roaming services all over India so there will be no need of buying new SIM cards again and again.
Demerits
- There isn’t any 4G network services from BSNL yet.
- With so many new companies like Jio evolving, the old ones like BSNL may seem unappealing.
- The network speed in remote areas may cause problems.
Popular Offers
- Rs. 29 – Unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS and 2GB data per day for 7 days.
- Rs. 27 – Unlimited voice calls, 300 SMS and 1GB 2G/3G data for 7 days.
- Rs. 9 – Unlimited calls, 2GB data and 100 SMS for a day.
- Rs. 171 – Unlimited calls, 2GB data and 100 SMS per day for 30 days.
- Rs. 444 – 6GB data per day and unlimited BSNL-BSNL voice call for 60 days.
IDEA
Idea, which is also called Vodafone Idea is an Indian telecom operator which has its headquarters in Mumbai. Idea provides 2G, 3G and 4G VoLTE services and works as a combination of two brands – Vodafone and Idea.
Idea is the second largest mobile Telecommunication network company in India with 336.26 million active customers and is the fourth largest in the world.
On 31st August 2018, Vodafone India merged with Idea Cellular and was renamed as Vodafone Idea Limited and the merged entity users both Idea and Vodafone as networking companies.
Merits
- With two of the top companies merging, the benefits of data and call services have improved.
- Both the companies have network towers all over the country, so hands-free quality calls even in rural areas are possible.
- Internet and data services may cost less.
Demerits
- The offers may seem unappealing with Jio coming up with challenging ones.
Popular Offers
- Rs. 10 – Rs. 7.47 talktime.
- Rs. 49 – Rs. 38 talktime and 100 MB data for 28 days.
- Rs. 299 – Unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS and 2GB data per day for 28 days.
- Rs. 599 – Unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS and 1.5 GB data per day for 84 days.
- Rs. 2,399 – Unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS and 1.5 GB per day for a year.
So these were five of the best mobile network providers in India. And if we come to the answer of the question about the best one, the only answer I think will be dependent on the user.
Every user has his own needs and wants and hence any provider he’s satisfied with is the best!
