[divtxt]

I have to say that it's (mostly) the carrier's fault.

I have the same issue sometimes with Airtel India, and I'm pretty sure this notification was turned off 2 years. [edit or maybe i just had a good data connection then]

Also, this issue is not consistent. I'm guessing what happens is: carrier sends usage alert when you "turn off" data + bad connection that keeps dropping => many notifications even though you never turned off data.

There are a few apps that convert USSD alerts to notifications - try these - but it would be nice if this was a built-in feature.

[fakeer]

>>the carrier's fault

As I said the behaviour is present in other operators too. I've asked a friends on Idea and Vodafone too(with Android). I just called a friend(before writing this comment) and he confirms that he is not facing this issue on Idea+iPhone5(he faced the issue on Nexus S with Airtel and then Idea too).

I had asked a friend with a Lumia and on Airtel and he said he doesn't have to do this.

>>carrier sends usage alert when you "turn off" data + bad connection that keeps..

No, it sends whenever there's 3G transaction and the usage period ends. I've observed that when I am using browser, I usually get the alert after I close the browser.

Airtel technical team(I was told they were the tech team) also confirmed that it is based upon usage and usually many apps/features rely for background syncing/net-access solely upon 3G/data so that is what makes the number of pop-ups too much. They also confirmed that it happens even when the phone is continuously on WiFi(I concur).

>>There are a few apps that convert USSD

Tried. Actually the most famous one is developed by an Indian guy(makes me think he was a victim himself). Didn't work.

Planning to root it. Google will push probably the last upgrade with 5.0(if at all). Will see if there's any ROM that handles it.

[divtxt]

I just polled some friends on chat:

- iPhone + Vodafone Bangalore - SMS notifications - inconsistent frequency

- Galaxy Y + Airtel Bangalore - SMS alert only

so it seems carrier/plan dependent to me!

> it sends whenever there's 3G transaction and the usage period ends

Sure - what I was guessing is that sometimes the phone is on a "single" 3G connection all day & there's no alert, and some days the phone makes "many" 3G connections & there are lots of alerts. (or perhaps it does not work this way & there's some other cause - not a telecom expert!)

[EDIT: oops both friends say they get SMS not USSD alerts]

[fab101]

I might be wrong but imo, this problem exists with prepaid connections only. Try a postpaid SIM in your phone and if it works, ponder switching to postpaid.

I had this problem on a Whited00r-installed iPhone 3G with airtel prepaid. Never noticed with iOS 5 or 6 on my iPhone 4S.