This is interesting development. Mobile phone companies have been asked to publish directories.

Would it actually happen? Walla! Let’s hear the criticism of TRAI order in the coming few days. They would raise noise about Customer privacy. For years on an end, Telephone directories were the only source for the subscribers; true that telemarketers did bother to no extent; but then one has the option to stay out of the proposed directory.

Let’s analyse the order. This would mean that these companies would have to spend out extra cash to keep their house in order and share the customer details. High spending customers would avoid; despite the fact that all of them cosy under the umbrella of COAI, they wuld be glad to poach from the other operators. As of now, it is blind marketing. I might get a call from Hutch to migrate to their plans; being on CDMA I wouldnt want to invest all over again. Hence a database of GSM subscribers makes much more sense; they could focus on the select group and hence save on money.

A more “sinister” affect would be that these companies would be forced to account for the numbers. Simply becuase they have avoided doing so, millions of subscribers would just vanish in thin air. What would happen to their valuation? Or perhaps the way that these companies fool others in believing?

Expect litigation in TDSAT or their lawyers getting hefty pay checks. True, TRAI has kept these lawyers very happy; though failed miserably as a regulator to safeguard end consumers interests.

Somehow my biases get revealed in this, isnt it?