But the flaw in your argument is that you imply that solving problem 2 above is a solution for problem 1 too.

You begin by saying that
“say “Acha (ok), let me ‘study’ the plans”. So you park your car on the side, take the 116 print outs of the options and then spend 8 hours studying what you need to buy… (Remember you are a moron).”

and then later claim that number portability will help in
“if I want to buy 300 minutes – look up the ‘best rate’ at that time (and so 100+ operators can compete basis what minutes they can offer and at what rate) and you snap it up”

See the inherent contradiction? With more operators, you still will go crazy choosing the “best rate” from 100+ operators unless you are a complete moron and will “study the plans”

With proliferation of internet mobile apps and trust-enablers like FBConnect, this may not be too far away.

It doesn’t “solve” the problem of confusion caused by marketing, which extends to even purchasing a TV set!

does this answer your questions ?

Cheers !!

This one ( like many others got me laughing ))

Ya, we are all victims of the skewed mobile plans. And the way these cos. go abt putting up huge billboards/print ads claiming cheaper billing ( and a * with the tiny rider below ) really confuses. And then when one’s travelling frequently across the country its an even greater nightmare.
For God’s sake its high time TRAI flogs the telcos and makes a uniform tarriff plan reality. As such most operators have come around to the 1 paise per sec reality, thanx to the price war and new operators. Sometimes its even lower than that.

According to me there shud be 2 plans – a) a pay per second plan ( doesnt matter if its more than 1 ps per sec so that telcos make some money and end this useless war OR pay a fixed sum monthly and get unlimited calls b ) a single number and tarriff plan across the country per telco

And if GOI wants to make some more money to shorten its budget deficit why not open up the VOip space more ?

Tell u some of the most bugging things as per me :
1. The customer support which takes endless recorded sessions be4 one can reach the desired option
2. The DND service which the CSE says will be activated in 15 days …why 15 days ? ( in some cases like Tata Indicom wireless I’ve been trying for 6 months now )
3. The “thank you & have a nice day” routine by CSE’s with a moronic tone …by this time one wants to give a slap actually.I wonder who can have a nice day after going thru a harrowing customer support call which sometimes takes more time than calling a stubborn client !!
4. The VAS schemes msgs which endlessly buzz in thru the day and confuse further !! The timing is precise..just when one’s expecting an imp call or in a meeting.

And if one has a budget and wants a new scheme for someone then its a virtual research spanning several days as u rightly put it.
The trials and travails of Indian mobile users. alas !

My take on it:
- You can’t avoid having more options, only few companies understand that constuctive desctruction is a way to go … the famous Google Vs Yahoo debate …
- The only option is Technology … why Google is king, they simplified something that was too complicated, did I shell out an idea that I am working on …
- There will emerge new jobs …. like we have financial portfolio management

More options will keep coming in. The companies need to know on how to optimize it, else they will be confusing their customer to dissatisfaction.