Ring Side view of Indian Telecom Circus
I have had to quit my job and heading back home. It would take some time to get the status quo. This was the last post I made for today. I need atleast another 2 weeks to get the things streaming for me. Kindly bear with me for the time being.
Thanks.
P.S. I think I need a break good enough from all the rants and the depressing scenario painted here. For the same reason I rarely read my own posts here!
The hare and tortoise is the classic adage that taught the virtues of going slow. Had the hare not rested, he would have won. It was stupidity on his part. The tortoise had nothing to loose and was slowly walking towards the “goal”- the original story doesn’t mention as to how long it took tortoise to win.
However, it seems that Indian telecom operators have embraced the tortoise approach rather too seriously. While a tortoise may move, these idiots seem to have their boots leadened up- they refuse to drag.
This is damning state of affairs- we are held hostage to a few glorified morons who draw fancy salaries and perks- without moving the things on the ground. Clearly, even in the name of IT- we are laggards. Suffice to say that we are happy to serve as “low cost destination” for offshoring- euphemism for cyber coolism.
Some attempt has been made to analyse the state of affairs Despite what the paid PRO’s claim, it is clear that data services are not on anyone’s radar.
Why am I peturbed?
I came across this link on Business Week which details South Korea’s broadband roll out
More on Emergic.org
It’s about the emerging scenario as to what the technology can do. Plus of course, the public and the private partnership. Excerpt:
What distinguishes South Korea’s effort is the intense cooperation between the IT industry and the government — in sharp contrast with the U.S., where the government devotes few resources to the development of broadband and wireless technologies. Indeed, the soul of many of Korea’s machines is not in the laboratories of Samsung Electronics Inc. or mobile operator SK Telecom, but at the state-run Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in Daejon, 170 km south of Seoul.
Despite US agressive roll out, it is still a laggard as far as Japan is concerned This needs free registration at the website. (Avoid this by going to BugMeNot and type in the URL. You would get the login details)
Perhaps we may be condemned for ever to stay as a “developing country” identified as the third world nation while others race ahead. Most people learnt from the hare- to seize the initiative and rest not till one reaches the target. We refuse to learn from the tortoise.
This is clearly heartening. I have no idea who thought up about this but it seems that manufacturers would be forced to set up local manufacturing units in India if they have to supply to BSNL and MTNL. This is likely to be enforced in the new telecom policy.
New replacing the old? What’s new? Time would tell.
It’s no secret that India is being ruled by English speaking elites- the same cattle class that British had carefully nurtured and ruled the majority by proxy. Gandhi and his ilk stressed on the rural way of life for argument’s sake. While a critique on Gandhi is out of scope here (it’s about wasting time on a worthless history figure)- the IT initiatives should percolate down to the villages to mean anything.
However, I concur with economist Atanu Dey who believes that IT shouldn’t define the face of progress of this nation. I had an email exchange about the same, broadly we agree that it has much to do with the “brick and mortar structures”- in other words INFRASTRUCTURE This fact is lost on the “neo” bloggers who gloat over a working computer in a wayside hamlet powered by erratic electricity.
There seems to be crisis in thought process- something that I aim through this blog to highlight. I maynot be in a position to influence the decision making but flatly refuse to accept the lies and double lies being marketed as truth by those in power.
A personal experience here wouldn’t be out of place. I used to go to a wayside hospital as part of my internship. Almost 40 kms from my place, it was a lovely drive down on my Bullet. In a government set up, we managed the patients with bare necessities- clearly most of them needed specialist care. Most couldn’t afford the same. Fast forward by months and I found myself in a tertiary level hospital with all the facilities. There they charge fancy amounts for admissions, with 24 hour air conditioning et al. A stark differnce of contrasts. It’s here I realised that India doesn’t need fancy stuff to crow about “development”- down to the roots we need basic health care, population control, infrastructure in form of motorable roads, railways,waterways and ports.
Oh well, Telecom too.
I stumbled on this info which details as to why Reliance and Tata’s are in a logjam. They have refused to sign interconnect agreements with each other leading to much heartburn among it’s customers.
Meanwhile, Reliance continues to poke VSNL over international gateways which may be the bone of contentin between two giants.
I think this comes under the purview of TRAI which must ensure uniform interconnect between various service providers. They are more happy dreaming up “One India” instead of doing real work.
For the uninitiated, this is the way Indians in India work.
Reuters reports that BSNL could order upto $3 billion of telecom equipment. Yup. They are planning to float an international tender for the same.
A comforting thought that India is on the verge of another “telecom revolution”? Well, the money seems to have been financed by the Access Deficit Charge( ADC) that flows in BSNL’s coffers as it gets fat on the payments which in any case it doesn’t deserve.
Meanwhile, BSNL plans to set up a rural CDMA network on Build Operate Own and Transfer(BOOT) basis. Is this strategy right? I believe that if the resources come to the community, it might work out in their favour. I haven’t come across this while reporting on the Telecom scene ever.
More Details on Hindu Business Line.
What is going to be the future of Idiot box- asks Business Standard They have all those fancy terms like time shift TV, IPTV et al.
Amit Khanna has given an interestiing insight in digital media. Fair enough. Though the readers should read in between the lines. He is highly paid exec of Reliance and gets probably paid media exposure. In other words, that is the future of what Reliance may be contemplating.
Link viaContent Sutra
Sex sells. In any form. If it is a “scandal” involving celebrities, it sells even more. Mobile phone smut is an established phenomenon now. First the infamous DPS clip, then the kissing scene involving two actors ( it was private moment- as if people gave a damn enough) and now Mallika Sherawat in the infamous 6 minute clip. ( Google gives better results!)
There is an interesting insight on Rashmi Bansal’s blog. Titled as Phoney Videos it traces the origins of mobile phone “shoot and spread” culture. In the process the mobile operators make loads of money.
Typical of Times of India journalism, they are crying hoarse about IT act- in the process detailing what all clips are circulating! I really wonder whether this was required. We have had hacks of Paris Hilton her pics,her telephone numbers et al online.
Anything illicit or “illegal” would always have an element of fascination for the masses. I propose that lawmakers should turn their attention somewhere else. The celebrities need exposure- some are called as “motivated leaks” anyway.
Why even bother?
