getting MTNL Triband in Nerul, Navi Mumbai

There are some stories which are worth telling in life.. Getting a broadband internet connection in Navi Mumbai is one of them.
I have just gone through a hard phase of that cycle and ended up having MTNL triband.

So here goes the story of exciting journey ..........


I have moved to my new place in Sector 20,Nerul. Had an terrible experience with Sify Broadband. So there was no way i was going back to them.I was reluctant to call the sarkari "MTNL" as i want to avoid being caught in the Red Tape.

I called up Tata,INnet,You Telecome,Reliance,Airtel. They all had one answer for me, "There is no feasibility in your area". My frustration was peaking as the days passed.

Finally the day came to face the moment of truth. I had to call MTNL babus to get me online. I visited their wesite. Was delighted to see the link "Click to register online". I said "Thats a magic". My moment of happiness didnt last for long as the registration submission gave me "We cant provide online registration now,kindly visit our CSC".

I decided to print the online forms (belive me, they do have PDF forms available online). Selection of Tariff plan was a tough decision to make.

Tariff Plans:

Both MTNL Mumbai & MTNL Delhi provide Broadband service to Individual & Corporate Users. Sad thing is that MTNL Mumbai charges Individual users the rate of Corporate users.
Check MTNL mumbai & MTNL Delhi for the price difference. Delhi people are far lucky than Mumbai guys.
Someone has rightly said "You have to pay big price for living in city of dreams". :-(

I opted for 850NU plan which gives me 1.25 GB free for daytime usage 8am to 12pm and unlimited usage between night 12am to morning 8am.

What is Broadband?

TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authoriity of India) cleraly says Broadband has to be always ON and above 256Kbps. So MTNL do provides minimum 256Kbps line.
All the other operators who provide less than 256Kbps are NOT Broadband.

Application Process

Luckily MTNL offices are everywhere in mumbai and at prime locations. I filled the application form,signed it and ask my dad to submit in the MTNL CSC.
I was informed by my friends that getting MTNL triband is a lenghty process. Before mobile phone revolution, one has to wait long for the MTNL landline connection, the era has now moved to waiting for Triband connection.

But to my surprise the lady at the MTNL counter informed Dad about a deal. She told that in normal case, the waiting period is around 1 month as there is huge demand for triband. But if one enters a locking period agreement in which one has to opt for 850NU plan and have to give in writing that he wont change the plan for 6months, he can be given "Out of turn" connection withing seven days.

Dad called me to explain this, I immediately talked with the lady and she explained me the deal. She also informed me that i dont have to shell out any extra penny at this point. just a letter signed to enter the contract.

Waiting phase:

Now i entered the saddest part of it. I was waiting for the 7th day, so that i can call up the MTNL guys to demand the explaination. (No , i was not expecting them to come and get me a connection within seven days :-) )

And one more tragedy occured. I had to disconnect my landline for 1.5 years as MTNL didnt have connection in area where i had moved on temporary basis.
I had reserved my number with MTNL and they promised me that they will assign me the same number when the Landline connection is feasible.

I reactivated my landlne when i moved to new place as i need it for Triband. And to my horror , these guys sent me a bill of 6000 rupees as a rental for 1.5 years.

You can expect such things from MTNL. And i had decided Not to pay that bill and lodged a complaint. Dad was shocked as he remember that he had activated ECS (Electronic Clearing Service) to pay the MTNL bills.Luckily the transaction was not cleared. And first thing he did was to cancel the ECS facility.

Dad again had to visit the CSC and after doing lot of sensex (Up & down in MTNL office floors) he got the bill reversed.

The saga continues....

After seven days dad again visited the office. And this time he got a googly. The other guy on counter said "1 mahina to lagega". My dad was frustrated he told them that we have signed the contract" The guy replied "We cant do anything about it,you have to wait for a month".

My dad felt cheated and argued him "I dont want your pathetic service". I want to cancel my application right now. The guy calmly said "ok,cancel kardo".

Luckily our neighbours appeared from somewhere and promised dad that he will get the workdone in few days.

3 days later i got a call from an MTNL guy that he will be visiting my place at 6pm to get the connection done. I was so happy to recieve the call. And as you guys must have guessed it, the guy didnt turned up :-)
next day was sunday so i was not expecting the guy to come down, and i went to movie with my friends. And you guessed it again, An MTNL guy at my place on Sunday afternoon. I felt like being a "KING".


I rushed back home to meet this "God send man". But the dude disappeared in just 5 minutes of his arrival by putting the router.

Dad gave me a surprise that i cant access the internet as there is a crossconnection between my line and one more line, and i have to wait till next day.

Patience is the key here....And i dont know how to safeguard it. I logged into my router. And did all the RnD. I couldnt wait more. I called up MTNL helpdesk. After a lot of redialling and waiting, i could get through a guy.

This Helpdesk guy was a very polite, he didnt have much resource to help me out but he gave his best shot. He was not getting answers but gave me lot of time. He assured me that my connection is activated from his side. and he will send one guy to my place next day.

And it really did happen, i got a call from MTNL. Since i was in office the guy asked me when he can visit my place. i told him that i can resolve the problem if he can give me instruction online.
The guy asked me to change my loginname from "2771****" to "@a2771****"

I found it funny and tried it, But failed again. then i tried "2771****@a" and bingo it worked.

So here is the end of story, or should i say beginning of new story????

keep watching this space for more....

drop me a line on abhshk@gmail.com if you need any assistance with getting an internet connection in navi mumbai.