A much more prudent option would be to analyze the situation and fix the guilty party. TRAI, to my understanding remains out of bounds for the general public. A public body ought to formulate the policies by LISTENING to them rather than stick around in isolation. Yet, it remains open to lobbyists of all hues and the post retirement bonanza is always an option for the retiring bureaucrats.

Remember Baijal? He had done nothing revolutionary while in TRAI but the worst part was that he went on to join some kind of a rag tag consortium of the private players as a “facilitator”. The exact details elude me since I had read this in one of the weekly magazines (for which I don’t have time now). Loosely translated, it is the big boys club where they are known for their wheeling dealings and lobbying since these guys are fully aware of the levers of power.

What this means for you and me? It means that SMS would be atrociously charged even though it is FREE for the telecom companies; customer care is a farce because these are fronts for these companies as the real buggers hide behind the smokescreen and your hard earned money is being palmed off easily.

My mail in response to Sunil Jain’s write up in Business Standard was published recently (in fact quite a lot of them though). I had clearly mentioned that BSNL does not lack the expertise to roll out the networks but rather it has been ham handed by TRAI and the network expansion plans locked up in court battles which stunts it’s growth. This means that a poor coverage of the private players in rural areas continues as it is because these bastards won’t let the others grow. This also means that behind the glitzy advertisements, your over dependence on these players is being taken for granted and for a ride.

TRAI needs to be dismantled or radically overhauled. It’s time that companies like BSNL speak out against them.

I am putting up the published email in it’s entirety.

The real reason for the loss of market share is the ham handed policies
and has nothing to do with lack of an opportunity. For over many years,
BSNL’s expansion for over 40 million lines for GSM has been held up in
court cases or stuck because of the objections of various ministries. This
speaks volumes about the operational efficiency of the PSU’s.

Mr Jain’s write up clearly points the anomaly. The entry of private
telecom players is welcome because they have worked hard to improve the
teledensity. However, this has definitely come at a cost to Indian
industry. None of the telecom equipment is manufactured in India and we
are dependent on the big majors from the Western world. Broadband as a
metric for the GDP languishes. Mobile connectivity based on voice alone
would not contribute to their kitty based on low ARPU’s; most of the
mobile operators have shied away from creating custom applications for
shoring up the value added services. Finally, having a private operator
does not mean that services are automatically ensured. There are a large
number of forums where people recount their horrible experiences with the
telecom operators; no one seems to be wiser than the other.

All of this to be kept in mind before they can get a clean chit. The real
public sector needs to be shored up, given operational freedom to choose
with the best practises and ideally no interference from any quarter. This
would be a fair enough ground to test for the acquisition of customers.
Further, the PSU needs to shed their complacency in case they need to
survive instead of relying alone on the taxpayers money.

Fuck them.

I was indeed surprised to read about Mukesh’s foray in the telecom business. This time in Broadband. Clearly there is a potential but he’s opted for Wimax delivery. It was all about Dad’s dream (as claimed earlier in the advertisements). It was clear to Mukesh and his team that in order to break through the clutter, they had to get something which was never heard off in the country before. Their “web stores” were one stop “digital hubs”. The idea, in theory was great. Yet, the gaming didn’t work off the way they wanted, it had severe billing issues and it appeared that Anil Ambani was interested to market the cellular version of telecom. Not the broadband variety.

Although, I am quite aware of the fact that they spent a huge packet of money to lay down the fibre optic cables and an attempt was made to provide for end to end connectivity. To add to their assholism (it is a very interesting mix of assholes trying to market something without creating a demand for it), their existing broadband plans sucked.

Any number of idiots mill around the forums to complain about Reliance but are totally unwilling to drag them to the court. You would find the same crop whining and sucking up later for the “new” wireless broadband because limited spectrum would mean that download limits would be rigorously imposed. Screwheads are aware of such issues yet claim a zillion times that they have been “ripped”.

Anyway, this interesting “brotherly rivalry” has no parallels. The billionaires with their army of lawyers are hell bent on making the “first move”. If I were in Mukesh’s telecom team, I would make the access “free”, charge for premium users and for those who wish to clog the networks, would have to pay the maximum. A free net access would mean that if your service has minimum downtime, more and more people would sign up for “premium services”. Simple logic but it’s beyond their thick skulls to understand. They are hard nosed businessmen. They think they know better.

See how this story evolves!

The big question mark then boils down to the fact that competing technologies are making a beeline for the customer space. Nokia has upped the stake and launched a slew of handsets which are “3G” compatible. The networks are seeing huge amounts of raw investments in the space. Yet, in the previous write up, I had clearly mentioned that India represents a missed opportunity to shift to 4G instead of the present 3G investments. What the hell is the difference between 3G and 4G?

Here is an idiots guide to 3G versus 4G difference. It all boils down to download speeds. Although, in fair judgment, the download speeds are going to be marginally better than the existing experience on the handsets. We have seen multitude of ringtones and crap shit like that making a neat little profit from all that. Yet, the fad is bound to wear off. Sooner than later. Data can NEVER be the differentiator here because there is NO ecosystem for the same.

It only boils down to “operational efficiency” for the voice traffic.

No amount of crap dip shit research can explain the projected telecom users. Neither the best estimates. Nor the tax collections or the opaque methodology to count the number of customers. It is only a grab of the public resources by private players. Most of the private payers would exit out of the current game, leaving the field wide open for the bigger international players in the market. That would ultimately decide the price for the spectrum running into billions of dollars. That is the reason why Raja conceded to the big national players because the lobbying happens in their backyard. Any new International player has to kiss their ass to get a “toehold” here in Indian market that is supposed to be “exciting”. Fact is that no one fucking cares because we are way behind as laggards in either 2.5G or 3G or 4G (or even any of the new avatars) designed for future use.

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.

As usual, frequent call drops and inaccessibility has made my life miserable inside the campus. At first, they were “happy” to claim that an in building solution would be provided to address the issue. This was put down on some pretext or the other. I had no option except to grit my teeth and accept the status quo. It was then that Airtel installed it’s “boosters” and I sent a formal request to Vodafone to tie up with Airtel to share their infrastructure.

I understand that this is done on a revenue sharing basis; the company doesn’t want to incur on this cost for very obvious reasons.

It is from this time that the tug of war started. The first problem was the emphatic denial of the company that their network had no issues; which they claimed in writing. Unfortunately, a few hired dingbats from their company called in to narrate different versions of sob stories. One claimed that they needed permission from the Government to set up a cell site. Other bugger insisted that he’d be contend to “sweet talk” my pants off; for which I wasn’t forthcoming for very obvious reasons.

Finally, on a hot Sunday afternoon, I got a call from the Vodafone’s Nodal Office. It was supposed to be an official call but the idiot had it from me; specially when I quoted specific provisions of TRAI act which made it mandatory to ensure that there was no disruption of services.

Anyway, I mailed in to the Secretary of TRAI who, as per the information on the website, is supposed to ensure that the various regulations as passed by TRAI are enforced. On expected lines, the bloody leechy babu didnot even acknowledge my email. I mailed them on other occasions and specifically told that I’d be seeking the information through other means; to no avail.

I have now sought information under Right to Information Act, 2005 which is an amazing piece of legislation and perhaps truly empowers the citizens of India.

How are these two incidents related to each other? I want to exert pressure on Vodafone Essar to act; to get TRAI in the loop because these bunch of morons are good for nothing and to force them to act on my behalf.

It does take time for information to filter out but emboldened by this, I plan to seek information about the Broadband pricing; the various heads under which it is charged and why the official definition has not been revised in as many years.

Watch this space.

It’s high time we act in unison. I remember the time when we had forced BSNL (and it’s lethargic army of frigging idiots) to implement unlimited Broadband. At that point of time, I was totally convinced that a concerted public action can achieve wonders. At this point of time, it’s me who is alone in fight against the big bad corporate telecom company and I intend to take the battle in their court till the time I am assured of a decent network coverage; something that I pay for.

Oh by the way, it reminds me that so far, Vodafone Essar would qualify easily for the “COVETED” asshole of the year award!!

I came across this on the forums. This is the “true state” of pathetic access here in India. I am linking on to this so that everyone can read this.

Hence, they have bandied together to implement their “fair usage policy”.

Surprisingly and happily, it has found a mention in the mainstream media. Mint has taken up the cudgels on behalf of the existing customers and I truly laud their efforts.

There is no other way except to show a middle finger to the likes of Tatas (are they not always on the wrong end of the stick?), Airtel boffins (why are you screwing up a fantastic service) and Sify (the original buggers who have bastardised the broadband access in India). There are other smaller players who source their bandwidth (in effect work as re-sellers) and would be glad to limit the access accordingly.

Surprisingly, Internet and Mobile Association of India ( a bealagured body that is a rag tag association of the service providers) has spoken out against it’s members. It’s president (or whoever the self proclaimed titular head) has gone on record to say,

“If the service is provided under ‘broadband’ to the customers when they signed in, it cannot be reduced to 128 (kbps) since the government of India definition of broadband is minimum 256 (kbps). This is a violation of government policy as well as short-changing customers if they had signed in for a broadband service.”

Violation of government policy? Really? Which one dude?

For all practical purposes, I request the readers to sign up the petition to protest against the restrictive access. It can be found here.

We are already having a pathetic state of affairs. The frigging morons expect the users to broadband to check email alone. Thats the state of majority of the users.

Who has given them the right to limit our access? Beats me.

sbm@bharti.com (Sunil Mittal, Chairman),
ceo.direct@bharti.com,
manoj.kohli@bharti.com (CEO, Bharti Airtel),
atul.bindal@bharti.com (CEO, Bharti Telemedia, the subsidiary that offers broadband services)

You could paste the email written here:

http://afup.broadbandforum.in/

I hope that this works and wakes them up from their slumber.

Rediff reports about TRAI recommendations. They may portend the future of the things to come.

Minus all the hoopla, Tata announced that they had acquired a 30% stake in a South African firm called as Neotel. Big deal? It aims to consolidate it’s corporate offerings for video conferencing or data managed services, yada yada. I must admit that it suffers a total erosion of brand image among the retail customers as it has among the worst form of Internet access ever known to mankind.

A lesson for Ambanis? It pays nothing to get into shadow fighting for whatever amount of money you have. All in all you make a suckers of yourself and the fair name of your family.