Turbocharge your phone with 4G

Source: www.indiblogger.in

Slow Internet has been one of my biggest grouses with this country. Whenever you step out of the country, you find super fast Internet and more WiFi zones than you've ever seen in your life. India is at the forefront of so many innovations - why not the digital innovation as well?

Perhaps Airtel asked themselves this very same question and that's when they decided to surprise the nation with 4G Internet. We were just getting used to 3G and now they're springing 4G on us! Good or bad? Well it's definitely a win-win situation because the 4G plans cost exactly the same as the 3G plans. Take a look at all the plans here. In fact, in some cases they cost a little less. I'm currently on a monthly 1 GB 3G plan for which I forked out Rs 293. Under Airtel's promotional offer, I can get 1GB 3G at Rs 250. So essentially, you can get a free 4G upgrade.

Source: http://www.airtel.in/4g/index

But there are several conditions to this attractive offer:

1. You need to be in a 4G city. This one's easy because Airtel has rolled out the plan in 296 cities across India. The chances are pretty high that you live in one of them.
2. You need to be on a 3G plan. This is not a requirement but if you're on a 2G plan, you will find the 4G rates to be too steep.
3. You need to have a 4G device. Now this one's tricky. Not all handsets are 4G enabled. Mine isn't for instance and I own a Micromax A102. You can check whether your handset is 4G compatible by entering your phone number here: http://www.airtel.in/4g/index.

Is it still a good offer? I'd say yes but by the time all handsets become 4G enabled, I'm pretty sure the cost of the plans would have risen as well. But if you're one of the lucky ones to have a 4G compatible handset, try the 4G magic by all means. Of course, you'd need to have an Airtel number. Did I tell you that with mobile number portability, you can easily shift from one service provider to another? But there are certain costs involved in that too. My friend has an Airtel connection and he shifted from the Maharashtra circle to the Mumbai circle last month. He had to pay for a new SIM and also undergo hassles with regards to accessing the Mumbai plan rates. But if you're a heavy user of mobile Internet, these minor issues should not deter you from exploring the possibilities of 4G.

I am not certain if this promotional offer is available on tablets or not but I would love to watch videos or do some shopping on a 4G enabled tablet. Folks at Airtel, are you listening?