TRAI: Disppointing response from Appellate Authority

Published on 02nd Feb 2010 in Broadband in India, Digital Divide, General Thoughts, India Broadband News, Indian Telecom, Other Frustrated Customers, Personal Experiences and TRAI. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

As per the previous post, it is clear that they have sought to “play down” my response and call it as “hypothetical question”. If it doesn’t smack of playing favorites, then what else does? It’s the folks from the same department who are trying to cover each others ass!

I am terribly disappointed by their response. Hypothetical? My foot. I had asked pointed questions and everything here is in public domain. Even the response received from them which I got scanned and put it up here. To say that TRAI is full of assholes, is truly an understatement.

I was not even called for the appeal which is unfair. This case was decided “ex parte” which is not called for. Indeed, it is my privilege to attend the hearing; it is my call (as per the law) whether or not I need to go their dung infested shit holes.

I am not even surprised that they have not even bothered to go in the nature of the appeal but rather dismiss it as “fucking hypothetical”. What was the b**** even thinking about? Is it possible to quell the public opinion just because these motherfuckers are bedfellows with the vested corporate interests? What the FUCK is the Government of India doing as we all get raped for the public convenience that truly belongs to us?

I am sorry to say but we have juvenile delinquents hired as “regulators” who are not even fit to stand tall on their two feet but then it’s too much to ask for these creepy crawly lowly beings. They ought not forget that EVERYTHING about them is out in the public domain; although it is not a “personal fight” but based on their responses, I might even be compelled to ask them for their qualification, the reason they have been appointed for this job and their merits.

The second appeal, of course, is now the CIC, New Delhi and thats where I am headed. In order to maintain the transparency, each of the exchange of the email, the response received and the action taken would all be in pubic domain, that is, here on this blog.

May I also hasten to add that the frequency of posts has dwindled down in recent times because I am very busy with the academic pursuits and it is difficult to move ahead full steam with the present case as well as do justice to this blog. Nevertheless, I am expecting some response from CIC and since the courthouses are open for all, in the event that this case lands up there, I invite you all to present your side of the story.

I shall keep you informed via this blog or through the forums. Stay in touch and I am even more determined to take the fight to the finish.

CIC Response to RTI application filed against TRAI

Published on 02nd Feb 2010 in Indian Telecom. 0 Comments

This is the first and second page of the response received from CIC, New Delhi today. There is more to it; my reactions are in the following post.


TRAI:Asshole of year 2009

Published on 01st Jan 2010 in Digital Divide and General Thoughts. 2 Comments

This has been an interesting decade for sure. If we were to keep this in retrospect, I would stared in wide eye wonder had I known that I would someday work on 1Mbps unlimited broadband. This has definitely come after a big fight but for sure, there has been a lot of resistance from entrenched lobbies to change.

The asshole of the year undoubtedly goes to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. For their persistence in making inane rules, for sleeping on with the telecom lobbies, being roughshod by the Department of Telecom and I should question it’s very existence. Given the framework within which it operates, it could have easily questioned the authority of the “minister” in charge for bypassing and challenging it’s authority for everything. The imminent launch of mobile number portability was delayed; for very obvious reasons because the entrenched players have a greater say in the lobby or it must have been a part of the deal to allow new players while the mobile number portability could be delayed based on whims and fancies of established operators. We would never know the real reason but TRAI has been found wanting for lack of action.

As a regulator, it is naive to assume that it has “unprecedented powers”; on the contrary, it has not been able to exercise it’s own powers the way it should act on customers behalf. I remember the time when I had dragged Vodafone to the regulator and made it work. But the compliance reports were never made public. At the same time, it has given me valuable lessons in case I need to drag TRAI to act. The best way is to send them a notice while you complain to your telecom operator. Since most of the operators never respond even to repeated emails, it’s best to file a RTI application and know the status of the compliance reports filed by the operators- the nature of the complaint received from the customer, action taken report on the same and how the case was closed. It is a mandatory requirement but so far TRAI has not made anything public.

The wheels of justice churn slowly in this country. So does the thinking of the populace as well as the elected representatives. The idea is simple. To keep the population under duress, to ignore the idea for reforms and let the status quo remain unchanged. Or else, the Government which seems to “act” cannot really resort to extra judicial or extra constitutional ways and means.

In any case, this is the end of the calendar year 2009 and I do sign off with a heavy heart. The efforts in 2010 would be directed towards a bit of activism given the fact that there are untold academic pressures to “be up to it” :)

Mobile number portability and TRAI: Suckers

Published on 29th Dec 2009 in Airtel, Digital Divide, General Thoughts, Indian Telecom and Mobiles. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

As per the media reports, the mobile number portability is delayed because BSNL and MTNL were not ready for it.

In any case, I am toying with the idea of filing a second RTI application but my attention is fixated on academics and it would be impossible to keep a track of the same. In case anyone among the readers feels motivated enough, please let me know through feedback on drapuri (at) gmail (dot) com and I would happily guide the way out including help with drafting of the application.

Trust me, you’d feel very happy with the process to move the sarkari machinery in motion to respond to you. The idea is to inundate these idiots with RTI applications and make them realize that their own regulations are being flouted.

The context of the RTI application should include pointed questions towards mobile number portability, relevant orders to the same, procedure outlined, whether the telecom operators are filing compliance reports, copies of those reports, penalties to be imposed on operators who delay, cause of delays and what action has TRAI taken to ensure compliance with the erring operators.

This is important because TRAI’s own rules are being flouted, mobile number portability would have benefited the incumbent operators and the biggest losers would have been the Government Operators. With delays in capacity expansion, BSNL is already loosing market share. But then, who cares?

The entry of private operators hasn’t really shaken up the market. With perhaps per second billing as the highlight of the year, there is nothing else to speak of. In any case, it would not result in “drastic savings” because of the complex interconnect and termination charges. We don’t really know how we are being scammed.

A further highlight of the proposed RTI application can be the break up of the call rates and the scope for reduction of the same. The operators are dependent on voice revenues to a large extent; data and VAS accounts for a growing percentage of revenues, but as per media reports, not good enough to impact the bottomline in any significant manner. Therefore, the scramble is on to protect the cash cow; at any cost because the customers can be MILKED.

The big question really is: How much profit is really profitable?

TRAI: Second appeal filed with CIC

Published on 23rd Dec 2009 in Digital Divide, General Thoughts, Indian Telecom, Right to Information Act and TRAI. 2 Comments

After receiving no reply from the morons, I have filed a second appeal with CIC, New Delhi. The best part is that it’s free, it’s as easy as it can get by typing in the required information in the drop down boxes and all you have to upload is the copy of the letters sent to the earlier PIO.

This is my first experience with Right to Information Act and has been a learning one too. The excitement is palpable because I can feel that there is some delivery of justice at the ground level. If required, I would be going down personally for the hearing, press upon them the need for a better broadband, force TRAI to eat crow and for once listen to the consumers to act proactively.

For long, huge amount of public funds have been spent on supporting these morons in office. Where is the bloody accountability?

I am awaiting response from CIC regarding the pendancy of my application and it’s status. Once it is accepted, subject to the approval, I guess the next step would be to screw the PIO and his boss regarding the denial of information. Let’s see what happens!

I shall duly update the whole thing here.

Airtel & Vodafone India: Royally screwed!

Published on 12th Dec 2009 in Indian Telecom. 2 Comments

The incumbents had a cosy oligopoly. Their talk plans were similar with no real service differentiator. The new players have changed the equation with “per second plans”. The best part is, according to media reports, is that the monopoly of the COAI (the rag tag motley group of lame assholes) has been called into question.

Calling the COAI as “assholes” is only a reflection of the personal opinion brought about by frustration because of their intense lobbying to delay any customer friendly initiative. After the broadband thingy is sorted out, I would be pressing TRAI for any information to make the telecom companies more responsive. Plus, to find out as to why they permitted the minute plans as existed before and ask them for any compensation if not in monetary terms but force the companies for any excess talk time etc etc.

This maybe a loud thinking but then we should get our money’s worth. It took a lot of time to get Vodafone to work and improve upon their services.

Wait and watch. I feel that the best is about to begin as yet. Let’s wait for the mobile number portability and the magic. The ‘revolution’ my dear friends has come NOW.

TRAI: No response to appeal

Published on 12th Dec 2009 in Broadband in India and General Thoughts. 3 Comments

So far, I haven”t received a response. I am aware that the blog is unable to reach a majority of the Internet users; most of the potential customers also fail to check out the reviews for various ISP’s but then we are sorely limited by choice.

To me, it appears like a simple game. The “base” access is 256 kbps; anything over and above that is a “value added service”. I have no clue as to how the whole thing is priced but logic dictates that it is incremental profit for the telecom companies. The costs are fixed for “digging” up the roads, fixing up the telephone connections and if they are able to give an “error” free connection, people are loath to change their service providers in a jiffy. In any case, landlines are more reliable than a mobile connection because they are not prone for “congestion” or call drops as the case with the airwaves is.

TRAI has not addressed the customer claims so far. I remember the time when I had to struggle upfront against BSNL to start with “unlimited” connection. It was a long fight and after emailing them incessantly, I managed to get “true freedom”.

Right to Information Act has changed the game plan by giving the customer real power in terms of information. I have earlier mentioned that it is one of the most progressive legislation in the history ii independent India because the grass roots policy can be questioned to bring about a change. The appellate authority has 45 days to respond to the appeal failing which I would be escalating the matter to CIC, New Delhi and press for charges against the respective Information Officers.

I would have been happy had this case got the media scrutiny and then bring TRAI on the mat and screw them LITERALLY. For long, we have suffered enough lobbies because it doesn’t suit them. Trust me, we have enough bandwidth to support millions of ‘unlimited connections’ but are at the mercy of the likes of ISP’s like Sify and Airtel. Those associations have money, legal power and reach in the media. We as individual customers, don’t.

I find the idea to “petition” totally useless. If anything has to happen in democracy, one has to reach out to do something. Clicking on the petition is a SURE SHOT sign that you are a f***ing impotent asshole. This “clickitivism” does nothing because these petitions are as good as useless. If you are so overtly concerned about your rights, it’s a better option to hurl some stones outside their corporate offices after ganging up. Or protest outside naked with a group of people. That would generate more news rather than sitting on your sorry ass for want of doing ’something’.

I appreciate all of your concerns and do stay glued here for any news. I shall update it as soon as I get any information.