Monthly Archive for June, 2005

Content Services

Published on 28th Jun 2005 in General Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Telecom “revolution” needs mobile phone instruments. It appears to be a lop sided growth because worldwide trends appear to be more towards the fixed line phones, and hence the Broadband, rather than mobile phones. They would come with their own attendant problems of spectrum and long term usage effects. Medically speaking, it is the realm of controversies. However, it has been shown in some studies on rats that microwaves do induce some degree of brain damage. Oh well, they even caution not to keep the mobile phones in your pants. Or else….

Frankly, mobile handsets have a person spoilt for choice. There is mind blowing array of phones of all shapes and sizes. In part, choosing the phone is like looking for a “perfect woman”; someone that would pamper your senses. I know it sounds chauvinstic, but heck thats the way it is. However, I have seen people jumping on the next available “model” the moment it appears.

Jokes apart, gaming, music and digital cameras have all come on a single platform. I really fail to understand that some individuals go gaga over such “toys”. As a camera it fails miserably with lousy picture quality. It’s much better to buy a sperate digital camera for that matter. For all the specifications, the convergence debate seems to much to digest. I believe that it may be more plausible to opt for each unit seperately, rather than compromise on quality.

A fancy gadget looks good- but minimalistic on performance.

Herein, there are lot of applications that are being ported on to the mobile phones. Content is going to be the future driver of growth as plain vanilla messages fade out and make way for feature rich applications. Yet, this remains limited to a miniscule percentage of the mobile owning population. For example, BSNL needs to step up gas on the quality of services- clearly it’s deficient. I really wonder whether the recent shift to 3G services would have any major impact on the mobile phone owners- much of it’s clientele is lower end of the spectrum from usage point of view.

Does it have any future? And where is it heading to? As the mobile phone operators scramble for the “next killer app”- it would do them much good to try and improve the basic service parameters. Something that can crow about in their advertisements.

Oh well, Reliance does talk about it’s “superior network”. Airtel has tried to do the same. BSNL? Nowhere in the sight.

Behind Reliance

Published on 26th Jun 2005 in General Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Few details have trickled out in the media. Thats the testimony to the fact that these brothers have an iron grip over what is reported and what isn’t.

The settlement hungama over, it was a sob story that was dragged in public. Perhaps one of the most damning exposures was the shareholding pattern of Reliance Infocomm. Frankly, it is beyond me as to how they managed to swindle the shares. No word of it now. Anil Ambani has made sure of that.

Once the hoopla settles down, I personally believe that splitting up Reliance was a folly. Why so? International lenders across the world were more happy to lend to a consolidated company- Reliance India Limited is a cash rich company. In any case, it was funding the infocomm venture. Fragmenting it means that they would be wary of lending it huge sums- leaving no option except to go in for an IPO. Incidentally that is being planned for, by the end of this year. Fund raising would be an important issue this year. There is another factor. Anil has “inherited” cash guzzlers. I really wonder whether he can pull off the “miracles” to make sure that Infocomm venture remains profitable. By last estimates, it was worth almost with losses and expensditues worth several thousand crores( some say almost upto 3500). The truth may never be known anyway.

Then, as I had mentioned earlier elsewhere, Anil has inherited the infocomm full of troubles. The regulatory mess, CBI enquiries( for the compromise of national security by rerouting calls), accusations over TRAI handling and infamous nexus with Pradeep Baijal- the TRAI chief;Broadband roll out mess and the battering on the Fixed Wireless- no one would be keen to get in the hot seat. It seems that Anil is looking out for CEO’s for his company. I wouldn’t like to stake for the top job under any circumstances! Yet, the name doing the rounds would be in a better position to leeway with the government and get the things done on their terms.

In any case, I would be following the Reliance story keenly. Why? Because, for the first time in my life I have been able to say that cheap calls are a reality. One day its going to be even cheaper than this. Backed by excellent infrastructure, they have managed to strike where others failed to do so(30% of the market share in what is keenly contested consumer pie.It’s been less than 2 years since the entered the scene). Plus, they have been able to learn from their mistakes(The earliest DAPO scheme was an abject failure-I heard that they are still honouring their commitments though they have discontinued the scheme). Who would have known that mobile handsets would be sold at neighbourhood grocery stores? Reliance made this possible to a large extent.

A lot goes behind the Reliance name indeed.

Personal Perspectives

Published on 24th Jun 2005 in General Thoughts. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

There are many ways to access Broadband. Some of them are described here in an article that appeared in The Tribune It isnt written well but would give a general idea about the same.

One thing is for sure. Metro Ethernet isnt a viable option since it hasn’t been validated anywhere. Since VSNL wants to ride on the same, Cisco India managed to convince them about the merits. I am looking forward for their roll out and would comment on the same again then.

At the back of this argument, a certain skunk who writes on Telecom from US was overjoyed about reading this news. It would come as no surprise to me because his blog is teeming with references from Industry sources. I am anti corporate sector- somthing that I disclaimed right from the start.

Anyway, Content Sutra has an interesting write up on telemedicine. Wish he had read my earlier articles on the same. Telemedicine is an old hat. Plus it’s languishing because of high costs involved. Apollo was in the fray earlier- no one knows for sure as to what happened to their huge fanfare and hoopla behind the same. They even got Kalam to inaugrate a couple of projects like those. I really wish that someone could have guts enough to follow them instead of printing out the press handouts in the media.

Are people really benefitting from Telemedicine?

Ramesh Jain has an interesting article on IPTV. This is something that India is looking forward to. Some kind of a demonstration that Indian Telecom scene has “matured”. Read it for what it’s worth.

This link on Business Week is what I stumbled on quite by accident. it details the Reliance Fiasco. Interesting.

Finally, Sify supposedly crosses 100,000 mark That’s 100,000 miserable customers- incase you are not aware of the same. Oh well, did anyone know that there is whole website of ardent Sify haters here online? No company would ever be able to generate so much of hatred for itself as Sify has done.

Some quirks in life. Strange, people seem to hold their head high up and still commit crimes.

BSNL in the news

Published on 24th Jun 2005 in General Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Here is the news reporting from different sources.

Hindu Business Line says that BSNL is “studying the impact” of One India calling number. This means that the whole country is going to be treated as a single entity to place calls. There goes the discussion on Carrier Access Codes- something that BSNL doesnt want at all. Mr Maran, why don’t you act proactively for a change now? Who is the real boss in the Indian Telecom scene? The cartel or the “Regulator” or Department of Telecom? In any case, if they are thinking on those lines, it’s worth the effort anyway. Reliance has shown the way- death of distance accordoing to them. What prevents others to emulate them?

Financial Express reports that BSNL may provide cell phones on demand. Numbers look preetty only in account books or perhaps newspaper reports. Mr Sinha- have you really bothered to check the quality of mobile phone services? Millions would make sense then. As the private operators decide to expand in the hinterland( where BSNL has been making hay)- it would face increased competition.

Sify.com reports that BSNL is eyeing the Content market worth 500 crores. Again the “magic figures”. Fair enough. I believe that content is the future driver of the growth models. Reliance realised it at the launch of their own services. Kudos Reliance. Frankly you seem to have screwed up in the wrong places and got it straight in the right places. There is no other way to describe it. Others are slowly catching up with their “portals”. Offering Internet through GPRS(sucks frankly) for usurious rates.

Finally, Business Standard reports that there is no plan to merge MTNL and BSNL.

Oh well, the neocons in the government ae going to slowly disvest it. Our FM needs money- through taxation policies in era of falling interest rates to selling off the family silver to fund “Bharat Nirman” something that everyone knows that its not going to happen. There are enough candidates to proclaim the same plan.
For example, this lackey who writes on Financial Express about bridging the digital divide. He insists that 74% of FDI is needed to fund the same idea. Oh well, FM, you have strong contacts in media too. These are the traitors, I believe in that very strongly, who routinely dish out prescriptions without realising the import of their words.

Where is the censorship?

Watch this space.

BSNL Broadband- What’s going wrong?

Published on 22nd Jun 2005 in General Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

BSNL may finally be able to pat itself on it’s back. People are praising it-it’s got an average user rating and it’s slowly catching up in the absence of any viable alternatives. Airtel, the perennial looser has decided to stay shut and still offer it’s measly 128K line as Broadband- however, user reviews have been excellent for nil downtime of services.

There is a disclaimer here. This is based on the forum posts and accounts of people I recieved via email. I am not lucky so far to get the “Indian Broadband”( 256K which drags).

What BSNL hopes to achieve by it’s plain vanilla offering? It seems that there has been a threat from the communications ministry that they would divest the last mile to private players. Oh, well I really wonder that Maran wants to shut down his office without any portfolio? The idiots that rule us are still smart enough not to let go of their free perks and would rather suck on them slowly like leeches.

So, it appears that BSNL is scrambling to put up “value added services” to it’s BB offering.

Financial Express has the details
I am surprised at their assertion because at the back of this is the imminent threat of Reliance waking up to roll out their own BB service. It would be hard to pen down any firm date. I personally believe that Anil Ambani has very limited options as of now. They would try and promote their Fixed Wireless phones in a big way. However, with TRAI playing spoil sport, you can expect them to turn on the heat on Broadband roll out.

BSNL needs to worry. Frankly because it’s current roll out is ADSL and not ADSL2 as promised. Which means that they seriously need to upgrade their exchanges. I feel that they might be more selective in the “competitive markets” rather than small towns and cities because thats where the real revenues lie. Oh well, they might just have enough sense to get the first mover advantage.

In the final analysis, it is too difficult to read the tea leaves and predict anything. Indian Telecom is like Cricket- full of glorious uncertainities. With idiots umpiring the whole show- just like the Pakistani umpires!

DISCLAIMER:I NEVER LIKED CRICKET AND PAKISTANIS. BUT WORTH THE ANALOGY

VSNL sinking ship?

Published on 20th Jun 2005 in Uncategorized. 5 Comments Tags: , , .

In another body blow to VSNL’s monopoly-BSNL has decided to shift it’s ILD business to Bharti.

Fair enough. While this bodes ill for Tata’s whose Indicom plans are frsutrated with lack of ideas and subscribers, VSNL seems to be a sinking ship. It’s ISP business has taken a hit- despite it’s hoopla about BB business. It’s front end staff and retailers are angry lot. Talk to anyone and they would testify to the government mindset of taking the things casually. I have even read accounts of customers chasing the sales team to sell them a connection!

In the cut throat market, this is clearly on a loose wicket and wouldnt justify for all the crap.

However, there is a BIG IF. How do these companies manage to quote low rates for tenders without passing on the benfefit to individual retail customers?

Food for thought? Another scam in the offing?

The mandarins in the plush offices don’t give a damn anyway.

Reliance Infocomm. Where is it headed?

Published on 19th Jun 2005 in General Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Admittedly, it has come much under the scanner for all the wrong reasons. Call rerouting, CBI enquiries et al. Plus, the top brass has deserted the ship( not yet sinking). What Anil Ambani can possibly do to iron out the mess here?

One thing that they could do is to iron out the chinks in the billing. Increased focus on the customer care would earn them a few brownie points.

I expect some kind of a roll out. Current media reports hint at Fixed wireless phone as the likely candidate to be promoted. However, their fixed wireline phones go on un noticed by a vast majority. I haven’t noticed any advertisements and it seems like that they are betting big on the same. Expect to hear more on that.

Plus, the BB rollout. Atleast we would have a clear idea and focus as to where it is headed for. There is a lot of hoopla for the same; hope it’s worth it. So far no firm plans. I am sure Reliance is going to bet big on the same.

Could we see more of screwups with VSNL? Smarting under loss of customers and falling revenues in ISP business, VSNL is clearly a sinking ship. Staffed with mental retards, it still has the hangover of the monopolistic era when it ruled the roost. BSNL,it’s ugly sister, is betting big on International Long Distance telephony-its bread and butter and Reliance is snipping at it’s bandwidth business. Matter of time before VSNL changes it’s spots.

It’s too early to say as to how Anil would steer the company out of present impasse. Splitting up the “empire” was stupidity- they could achieved far greater synergies together rather than alone. Perhaps much more power and clout than they have all alone.

Watch this space.