Choosing Mobile Broadband

Easiest and probably fastest way to access internet, now a days, is to use mobile broadband. With the revolution of telecommunication sector in India, a number of telecom operators are providing mobile broadband services. BSNL, Reliance, TATA Tele, Airtel are major players.

Among above also, Reliance and TATA Tele are the most preferred choice and Telecom sector in India is witnessing big war among two leading brands Reliance Net connect and TATA photon+.

I have made an honest attempt to compare the two, and tried to find out which one is better for an average user like me.

Particulars	Reliance Net Connect	TATA Photon +
Cost of Modem	2299/-	2299/-
Tariff Plan - Prepaid	Rs. Data Validity	Rs. Data Validity
	250/- 300 MB 30 Days	200/- 250 MB 20 Days
	500/- 700 MB 30 Days	450/- 512 MB 30 Days
	715/- 1 GB 30 Days	650/- 1 GB 30 Days
	935/- 3GB 30 Days	1000/- 4 GB 30 Days
	1210/- 5GB 30 Days	1250/- 10 GB 30 Days
	1379/- 10GB 30 Days	1500/- 15 GB 30 Days
	1500/- 6 GB 3 months	2000/- 20 GB 60 Days
	1925/- 15 GB 30 Days	3050/- 30 GB 90 Days
	3000/- 18 GB 6 months
	330/- 2 GB 15 Days
	200/- 1 GB 1 Week
Tariff Plan - Postpaid	Rental Data Addl Usage	Rental Data Addl Usage
	299/- NIL 1/- Per MB	299/- NIL 0.5/- Per MB
	499/- 512 MB 0.5/- Per MB	400/- 400MB 0.5/- Per MB
	650/- 1 GB 0.5/- Per MB	650/- 1GB 0.5/- Per MB
	750/- 2 GB 0.5/- Per MB	800/- 2.5 GB 0.5/- Per MB
	850/- 3 GB 0.5/- Per MB	950/- 5 GB 0.5/- Per MB
	1099/- 5 GB 0.5/- Per MB	1250/- 10 GB 0.5/- Per MB
	1250/- 10 GB 0.5/- Per MB	1650/- 15 GB 0.5/- Per MB
	1750/- 15 GB 0.5/- Per MB	2000/- 20 GB 0.5/- Per MB
Special Night usage Plans Postpaid
Plan -1	1298/- 10GB day and 10 GB night 0.5/- Per MB
Plan-2	499/- 10 GB night 0.5/- Per MB
Add on Pack	199/- 10 GB night (for plans of 650/- and more)

I decided in favor of Reliance Netconnect because of following plus points:

· Prepaid tariff structure of Reliance net connect is more rational. If somebody has low usage requirement, he can have only a voucher of Rs. 250 and can have a full month access to internet. Further you have few high data but short validity plan vouchers also in Reliance which are not there in TATA photon+

· In case of Postpaid tariff also, Reliance presents you more flexible structure. I specially liked night plan offered by Reliance which gives you download capacity of 10GB at merely 499/- monthly rental. I find it useful because of my office, I can use net only in night. You have amazing add on pack also where you get 10GB addl. Data capacity on payment of only 199/-

Thus, one can plan according to his specific needs

· So far as connectivity is concerned, when it comes to roaming, reliance network is far vast than TATA and it has reach to distant rural areas also.

Having said above, I would like to state few negative points also about reliance net connect. First of all, there is no availability of prepaid connection in Reliance web world as the time of posting this blog and nobody is committing when the fresh stock will come. Few dealers are charging excess amount for prepaid connection because of non availability in market. In addition, KYC norms of reliance are harder to comply with. I, myself have experienced it. Since I am not local, I live in rented house. But even after producing rent agreement, reliance web world people refused to issue a postpaid connection to me.

Life Insurance -Term Plan - What, Why and How

In india, life insurance has always been sold as investment product. From the days when LIC was the only player in life insurance player, emphasis was on endowment policies only. Thus importance of Term life insurance was always undermined.
As a result today also term plans form very small proportion of sales mix of any life insurance company. And in consequence, Indian public remain underinsured.
For protection point of view, you should have insurance cover of at least 10 to 12 times of your present earnings. Then only your family will be able to sustain current lifestyle in the absence of breadwinner of the family. This much amount of insurance, if you try to buy through endowment policy, 99% chances are you cannot afford premium. Here comes the role of term plan which offers you adequate insurance at very reasonable costs. Then what is the catch? The catch is unlike endowment policy at the end of policy term you get nothing. But the importance of adequate insurance can never be overstated. Term insurance is the absolutely basic and unadulterated form of insurance. The entire premium you pay goes towards covering the risk of death over a certain period of time.

Few points to remember when buying Term Insurance Plan
• The younger you are when you take out a term policy, the cheaper the premiums.
• Term Insurance Plans offer Tax benefits described in section 80C and section 10 (10 D) of the Income Tax Act.
• Term Insurance Premiums will not increase over the term, the longer the term the more money you save.


Selecting Best Term Plan
After opening up of insurance sector by government, now number of life insurers are available in the market. I have made small comparison table below so as to compare various options.
Below comparison is mainly on cost front and other qualitative factors such as claim service, claim ratio of particular life insurer have not been taken into account. (premiums are assuming applicant is 25 year old and buys 30 year term plan for a cover of Rs. 50,00,000 unless otherwise stated)
Life Insurer /Scheme Annual Premium
LIC OF INDIA – Amulya Jeevan 13650/-
HDFC Standard - 9603/-
Religare Agon-level term plan 10479/-
SBI Life - Shield 10647/- (25 yrs.)
Metlife -Suraksha 12464/- (25 yrs.)
TATA AIG Life – Life Assure life line 18900/- (25 yrs.)

If you see above list, we can conclude HDFC Standard life provides the term plan at very reasonable costs. But we cannot simply conclude in favour of HDFC, as all products are not same. Many insurers are providing different innovative options like SBI life, where while taking term plan you have option that sum assured can remain same throughout policy term, it may increase 5% each year or it may increase 50% each 5 yrs. Claim settlement ratio also a very important factor where LIC beats all other players. So final decision should be taken while keeping in view all factors.