Mobitel 3.5G

Mobitel too introduced their Thrid Generation network last week. They announced an improvement over Dialog 3G's services as Mobitel has 3.5G, a newer version.

Mobitel M3 boasts 7.2 Mbps downlink speed and 1.9 Mbps uplink speed, which is a large improvement over the ordinary 3G. However, only 512 Kbps downlink and 128 Kbps uplink is available for mobile users. The higher speeds are available under monthly subscription for home and office users, not for mobile users. The subscription packages range from LKR 400 (512k) to LK 15000 (7.2M).

Free Data Bundles on 3G Home Usage
But unfortunately all the subscription packages have download limits. SLT once more cheats the customers, by calling these limits "Free Data Bundles". Once you pass the limit, you have to pay LKR 10 for every 10 MB downloaded.

I personally believe it is better to get Dialog WiMAX 4M for LKR 14000 and download without limit, than use Mobitel Broadband for LK 15000 and pay even more for "excess" downloading. Its simply not worth for users like me, who download a lot of data every month. I should get around to measuring my downlink usage.

For Mobile Users
M3 is slightly faster than Dialog 3G, and equal to SLT Home ADSL at 512K. Dialog 3G is at 384K, although it has been faster at times. M3 has a session charge of LKR 2 whilst Dialog had removed it some time ago. The prices are equal between the two at LKR 0.02 per kilobyte.

Oh, I almost forgot! There is a "Free Data Bundle" of 200 MB for mobile users too. Customers say that this provides 200 MB of free downloads to all customers. After passing 200 MB the normal data charge will be applied. That's nice of Mobitel. But then why give the same name "Free Data Bundle" for the "download limit" on 3G home usage?

Video Calling
M3 provides Video Calling T LKR 3 per minute and higher to M3 customers, according to the package. It was also said in the M3 launch speech that "this is probably the lowest price you will ever get". LKR 3 is definitely cheaper than Dialog 3G Video Calls (LKR 5 per minute), but whether it will remain so is yet to be seen.

Mobi TV
Now is the the Mobi TV service available in the Americas or Mobitel's own service under the same name. Most likely it is the latter (copyright issues?). This is the competition to Dialog Mobile TV. The picture quality on M3 could be improved because of the slightly faster downlink speed. Other than that, I do not have any information on the channels available.

We are the First in South Asia (NOT)
Mobitel has been proudly proclaiming that they are the first in Asia to provide 3.5G and HSPA (High Speed Data Access) in South Asia. There is a flaw in this advertising. Mobitel is the first to provide 3.5G, but not HSPA. Dialog was actually the first to provide HSPA in South Asia.

This is only a summary of the information that Mobitel has provided, but as with all advertising there are and will be misleading details. Please tell me about your experience with M3 if you have used the service, and about the Mobi TV service. And also some understanding about the "Free Data Bundle" business will be happily accepted.

For the moment I think I will stick on with Dialog because they have not set download limits, etc. And their service has not created much problems for me so far. I do not always trust SLT and their services, especially with the great fake price reducation they issued on landphones (benefits were only for businesses; we paid the same old amount).

Anyway, we must be happy that Dialog and Mobitel are the first to introduce 3G Networks in South Asia. A great milestone for both companies and for Sri Lanka.

UPDATE: Thanks to K FLYER and Tao 365 for further information.