Archive for the 'Vodafone India' Category

Indian Telecom: End of the boom?

Published on 08th Nov 2009 in Airtel, General Thoughts, Indian Telecom, Mobiles, Reliance, TRAI, Tata Communications, Telecom News, Vodafone India and Vodafone Sucks. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

This is what the headlines in Business Standard say. Let me highlight the relevant portions of the report for your eyes only:

Rising competition (13 licences for each circle), falling tariffs (lowest in the world, falling further because of per-second billing), rapidly declining average revenue per user (ARPU) because the newer subscribers are the low spenders in semi-urban and rural areas, and high taxes (about 30 per cent in all) ……….have put paid to the aspirations of not only the new entrants but also incumbents……..deleted.

Forget about fancy valuations. I have always contested the claim about the “lowest tariff in the world” because it is not in consonance with the actual “gini coefficient”; which means that we pay more than we can actually spend. It is a bitter truth but then the newspapers need a lifeline of their advertising spends, so rest assured, this truth will NEVER be out.

……Nearly 15 million more users came on board in September….. It has also brought into focus the phenomenon of dual SIMs — existing subscribers are acquiring additional connections, resulting in a seeming increase in subscribers but in fact merely leading to a bill being split between two or more service providers….Deleted.

For the first time, to my knowledge, a newspaper daily has mentioned this in black and white. Let me also repeat. The operators keep the discarded number for a period of atleast 3 months before it is “terminated”. So even though, a customer has left in the middle of month, the disconnection would not be reported for another 3 months (which, I believe is an industry practise). The same customer may acquire multiple connections or dual SIMS; so it is the growth of the SIM cards and perhaps not the customers which is reported. In any case, the simple headcount may not be feasible.

Industry executives blamed much of the ills on the government and the regulator. With falling tariffs, they need to cut costs, but their hands are tied because 35-40 per cent of their costs are taxes and other regulatory expenses. They have to pay 5 per cent of their revenue even from rural areas towards the universal service obligation fund which is meant to promote rural telephony. They said there was no need for the regulator to push for pay-per-second billing by all…… Deleted.

Now this is something that industry officials would always bleat about. Let them come out openly against the said “policies”…shadow fighting the Government wouldn’t help. For one simple reason. If these morons had any iota of service towards customers, I would have sympathized with them. But, they treat their customers like dirt; more so like crap cash cows who feeds in their kitties with little change so that likes of Mittal and his ilk can reap in obscene profits. In any case, let them prove their worth with their commitment to service, their willingness to be transparent, their approachability and customer care in the true sense of the term. People need their money’s worth but alas! My countrymen are basically lazy bastards who wish to have everything on platter without fighting for it.

…….the incumbents said they remain committed and focused on growth. “We will continue to enhance our market leadership and simultaneously open new revenue streams like m-commerce, m-entertainment, digital media and many other products……Deleted.

They have no real option but to focus on Value Added Services which is “babes, bikinis and bollywood”. Unless these people want to “focus” on phone sex services which would be a “high revenue earner” for them.

Rest of the write up seems to sum up the gloom and “brave words” just to reassure the shareholders that “we are up to it”. That we would weave our small little web of deceit, of lies and pull wool over the regulators and leave no stone unturned to defraud our customers because they are basically bunch of idiots and nincompoops. No one knows how much unaccounted for wealth flows in and out of system or whether this elaborate system allows them to launder their money in more effective way. There is no accountability to the customers because they are using a PUBLIC resource and merely by adding value to it doesn’t entitle them to the ownership of it.

Sadly, this isn’t mentioned anywhere. This of course, would be mentioned at all.

Fight against Vodafone India: Sweet victory

Published on 25th Oct 2009 in General Thoughts, Indian Telecom, Other Frustrated Customers, Personal Experiences and Vodafone Sucks. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

It was a big long drawn fight against Vodafone Essar India. I have documented this here, here and here. I want to fight for the next level of transparency in the sector because information is not flowing in freely and it is a big hassle to know about the status of the complaints.

I have already documented that each operator needs to file a compliance report with TRAI every quarter including the action taken on the same. I had to push the company to act based on the threats sent as I insisted that they be made public using RTI. It was a “threat” alone which did the trick.

Further, the nodal officer and the appellate authority system doesn’t seem to be working because they are company officials. Even though it is mandated that all complaints be addressed in a time bound manner, it doesn’t happen so. What is the way out?

Department of Telecom is going through it’s own hassles with CBI raids in connection with the huge telecom scam related to auction of spectrum. I don’t foresee anything coming out of it (nor it’s worth reporting here) because it is just political arm twisting. Those officials are useless anyway; in that case, DoT is out of question.

That only leaves us with the option of TRAI and the idea that it needs to be more proactive in enforcing it’s own regulations. This calls for a concerted action against the errant officials because the companies are focused only on customer acquisition and not customer retention. Mobile number portability MIGHT change the service scenario a bit but I am being cynical about it because the exit and the entry barriers would be unfair to customers; unless the ensuing events prove me wrong. The charges for plan migration have yet not been defined; we as customers should demand a “pro-customer” outlook and not whims and fancies of fat cats dictating terms to both Government and Media.

On a happy note, the network coverage in my premises has vastly improved in all areas of building making it a hassle free experience. It took time and effort but it was worth it.

In the process, I learnt about the bad corporate ways too. And recounted it all here :)

Update (27/10/2009):
I got a call from the Vodafone Network people asking me to send across a mail of “appreciation” for the “good work” that they have done!!

I countered that by asking them to send across the details of their CEO so that I could cc to them as well! Strange kind of assholes indeed!

Vodafone Essar India: Screw them

Published on 11th Oct 2009 in General Thoughts, Indian Telecom and Vodafone India. 4 Comments

I finally managed to win the battle against Vodafone after relentless hammering and emailing and bringing TRAI in the loop. In the process I realised that the dice is heavily loaded against the customer. It takes a lot of effort to make this happen.

I had a problem of poor network coverage inside the premises where I work; the solution had to be an in building one. After calling up the customer care, the usual response was that the “concern” was noted down and that the “survey” is being carried out. Emailing them drew no response. Yet, I persisted and escalated the mail to Nodal Officer which did elicit a reply without any firm commitment.

It was then, I realised, that there were various provisions of TRAI that had been violated. I emailed to TRAI as well as to Vodafone; it shook them from their slumber and for the first time, I got an acknowledgement that it would be looked into. Still not getting respite, I managed to get the number of a person who was dealing with TRAI regarding customer complaints. I laid down the entire case, talked to the network head on a conference call with nodal officer in tow. It was a free for all; for the first time, they admitted that there was a network glitch and that needed to be rectified.

Finally, after some more persistence, emailing and cajoling them; I was after the life of the network head; that moron had it from me on different occasions. He finally conceded and went ahead with the installation of the in building solution for persistent problem that most of the employees faced.

I learnt that the easiest solution out for the companies is to “battle” it out in the court because they have a fancy retinue of lawyers on payroll. Given the delay in the legal system, it’s the easiest thing to get a date for the next hearing and postpone the matters. In any case, even if the judgement is delivered in your favour (remote chances given the fact that you have no clue about the technical nature of the complaint), it becomes a herculean task to have it implemented at the earliest to your relief.

I chose not to go to court but push them to their own work. It took a lot of patience and gritting of my teeth but managed to do it.

Alls well that ends well.

Vodafone India: Congenital idiots!!

Published on 25th Sep 2009 in General Thoughts, Indian Telecom, Mobiles, Other Frustrated Customers, TRAI and Vodafone India. 0 Comments

It has been a long long wait for the whole issue to be addressed. As mentioned in the earlier posts, it has been a long roller coaster ride and I wish to share my experiences via this blog.

Since the last email (and the last blog post),over a month has elapsed. I heard nothing from them. I had emailed to TRAI and came to know that indeed some action was taken on the complaint which addressed the issue of the violation of their own orders. I managed to get hold of a person in the network “team”- different from the usual nodal/ appellate authority crap. I pressed on the charges and suddenly some sense dawned on them.

It was a stinker of an email sent to their office which specifically mentioned the insults as well as the violation of various TRAI’s regulations. Surprise surprise. In the evening, I got a call from the network in charge as well their commercial office via a conference call. The nodal officer was a party to the same.

It was a free flow of the exchange of the ideas. I told them specifically that any of the concern needs to be given to me in writing. This in turn, would be proof of their inadequacy to service the customer. It appears that they had been well informed about the case; more so when they dropped names. It was worthwhile to name the nodal officer and their ilk about their utter incompetency and to make them work as well as see reason to ensure seamless coverage.

The big news was the mobile number portability which would kick in from this year end. In that case, we can always hold this as a bargaining chip to negotiate better contracts or better service levels.

In all this brouhaha, I learnt that the telecom operators are supposed to file in reports every quarter with TRAI regarding the status of complaints. Although TRAI doesn’t entertain the individual complaints directly, they do write in to the operators when their own regulations are flouted. Most of the operators who don’t respond or address the consumers in the given time frame, do so. Fact of the matter is that there is no point in cursing the idiots because the inherent system is not going to change overnight. The wheels of the Indian Government move slowly at a glacial pace. Hence a bit of patience is required at the same time.

I am toying with the idea of filing a RTI application regarding making those compliance reports as regards to the benchmarks public. Those compliance reports need to be put online; the same should be available on the website of each individual operator so that the status of a given complaint can be tracked. Further, the customer should be informed periodically through SMS regarding the pendency as well as the action taken through written or electronic means.

I threatened Vodafone’s bosses regarding filing of those reports through RTI as well as making these telecom operators little more answerable to their paying customers. I am sure that a strong message has gone and I waiting for the next week when something is promised to happen.

It’s high time something is done on an urgent basis to clean the augean stables.

Vodafone Essar: Ball in TRAI’s court

Published on 03rd Aug 2009 in Airtel Broadband, Broadband in India, Digital Divide, General Thoughts, India Broadband News, Mobiles, Other Frustrated Customers, Personal Experiences, TRAI and Vodafone India. 2 Comments

Vodafone Essar finds itself on sticky wicket or so much as I would like to believe. Over the past two years, I have been a customer of Vodafone in the place where I work; I have been facing a network issue by virtue of incomplete signal bars or call drops.

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!!

Vodafone India: Zoo zoos

Published on 05th May 2009 in Vodafone India. 0 Comments

They have a fancy name for the plasticky faces on thin and anorexic women models and surprisingly, their advertisements are a huge hit in the current IPL matches.

I understand that they were a “hot topic” of discussion after the making of the advertisements was shown in some frigging channel.

If the whole idea is to “stimulate” the discussion, it makes sense from purely advertising point of view. In my opinion, it is a refreshing change from the pug as a mascot to the anorexic malnourished women. It has no relevance whatsoever, for the services that the company renders nor the type of their services.

I can assure that they have demented dim wit morons staffed in their division. It does try to create a positive spin around the “ownership” but in pure terms of customer satisfaction or network coverage I would rate Vodafone as one of the worst I have ever encountered.

I am seriously waiting for the mobile number portability to be introduced so that I can bet my options and shift to an operator which suits my temperament.

Vodafone India: Won the battle

Published on 27th Jul 2008 in Vodafone India. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Woohoo. My persistence paid off. I have made the company credit the bill that they owed me. In addition to that, I have made them apologise for the whole fracas. I have realised that despite their claims of “happy to help”, they are among the most disorganised band of morons; just like the other operators.

Having a multiplicity of operators is not going to help unless they are brought in line by a regulator that has real powers. This is wishful thinking unfortunately.

I was thinking of the old times when I was dependent on BSNL’s largesse. I fought the shitheads on the phone, clogged their email servers and created a lot of brouhaha online for the same. I made them run around to give me a connection that actually worked. I made them correct the billing faults; I made them see through my point. It was a tough battle but it was only designed with one intention. We can achieve far more success in life if we are allowed to reach our full potential and not be constrained with the artificial barriers. People across the world are reaching out to new avenues; our development stops just short of South Extension in New Delhi. Thats the kind of “Gurgaon” model that we hold up to the world to signify our progress.

Making the company pay for their follies is an example that I wish to hold up here. It makes sense to be persistent; sniff out their potential weaknesses and hammer on whatever they respond to you. I emailed all the previous mails with this implicit knowledge that even though no one is going to read it, the company would be shamed to have a mess on their hands. The media likes to sniff out such incidents and I had plans to alert them to such “harrassment”. Elsewhere it would have been a PR disaster because one of the most important system of a mobile company is their billing system. I am told that it is a very expensive solution and needs to be robust. If people start having doubts on the billing system, they would desert it like rats on a sinking ship. It is perhaps for this reason, the telecom operators are loath to act on the complaints.

Further, a system should gurantee the fact that it not open to abuse. Mobile cloning is a persistent danger and there are many dudes in Palika Bazar who do it for a small fee. There is an whole underground system to clone the shit; mobile companies must be able to proactively anticipate these incidents and prevent them. Or else, it would be a disaster. An utter chaos.

I have made them pay. If anyone is reading this in official capacity, a middle finger up to you. If someone is reading this in personal capacity, dude, you are a personal failure to make a company worth it.