A visit to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone in Mumbai

News, Reviews

I just paid a visit to the Vodafone Store and Airtel outlet in Mumbai (incidentally both are walking distance from our office). The first stop was Vodafone:

iPhone 3G @ Vodafone in Mumbai

  1. As expected there was a specialist to guide us about the iPhone.
  2. This particular exec at Vodafone was configuring some Windows Mobile for GPRS. And the pace at which he was doing it didn’t impress me; some 3 minutes to enter the IP address 10.10.1.100
  3. So once I managed to get his attention, he happily showed me a Demo Pcs (8Gb Black iPhone 3G). Though it was without SIM, it was nice to hold one for the first time.
  4. And what shocked me the most was the pricing. 8GB @ Rs 20450 and 16GB @ Rs 34450. UPDATE: – Vodafone fooled… that exec was no where to be seen today. 8GB @ 29640 and 16GB 34580. Also confirmed any existing Vodafone rate plan and card would work.
  5. No paper work, or plan details to giveaway. No details on any CONDITIONS that I should worry about. “Bring the cash and take it home” (And thats exactly what I plan to do).
  6. But as we have seen before, Vodafone has special schemes for the iPhone in India.

iPhone 3G @ Airtel in Mumbai

  1. At Airtel – the iPhone 3G sales is being managed by THE MOBILE STORE
  2. The dude out there was knowledgeable. And was able to tell me that I can purchase Appstore apps online using my CC (and the quote would be in US $ and not INR)
  3. The rates at iPhone as advertised is 31000 for 8GB and 36100 for 16GB.
  4. They have a demo pcs, but wasn’t available as it was a off for their manager (Saturday).
  5. No special rates or cards, any Airtel would work on the iPhone 3G! Cheers
  6. During my next visit I want to inquire about ‘Airtel Live’ and ‘Airtel Apps’ !!
  7. We also heard that AIRTEL IS MAKING NO MONEY ON HANDSET SALES, The rates have been fixed by Apple!

iPhone 3G Activation INDIA

You need a active GPRS connections or WiFi to activate the iPhone. The process is supposed to be automated. (As per details from Airtel).

At both stores we saw no rush or keen customers for the iPhone. Though Airtel guys confirmed sale of 22 iPhones (from that specific store) at the end of the second day. The iPhone in India hype in India is chilled by the tough Pricing! Both Vodafone and Airtel claimed ready stock but had no brouchers or rate plans printed.

Update: iPhone 3G in India 29-April-2009