Over the past few years, the telecom rates have gone down drastically. I think it was Financial Express that reported that telecom rates cannot fall further. It is a fallacy indeed and I would give reasons to the contrary.

It is clear that despite the huge outlays, the companies have been fighting tooth and nail for new customers. Contrary to all norms of sanity, they haven’t been able to give adequate after sales services. In fact, there is little to choose from the various operators. Realising this upfront, companies have resorted to advertising like the FMCG outfits(Fast Moving Consumer Goods) often utilising the services of “glamorous” people. This jacks up the cost for the end user anyway. I wish I had the break up of what all we are supposed to pay.

Advertising by word of mouth is far more effective- companies ought to build up their reputations on the quality of services and customer satisfaction rather than expensive promos. Since they are often advised by highly paid managers, I believe that this model has failed to click in order to garner higher customer growth.

Witness the desperation of an ordinary consumer- he has no access to higher echelons in the company in order to redress his complaints. Individual cases may differ but by and large the maximum number of billing related complaints are usually handled by obscure voices. Someone who maybe quite smart enough maybe able to talk to the floor manager; often the “experienced colleagues” are called in to talk to “irate customers”.

There is enough feedback on the same from harassed customers here on this blog and elsewhere which is enough to point out the fact that some people are forced to grin and bear the lousy services.

Then again, there are no reliable Quality of Services parameters. In the event of a customer having no real choice, sales are driven by over zealous Direct Selling Agents or telemarketing; giving a spectre of spam telephone calls. Privacy issues in this country are rarely looked into.

Before I stop painting this bleak scenario, depsite the claims that telephone rates have fallen sharply, there has been no real reduction in the post paid bills. Companies often seek to charge the customers for “misscellaneous expenses”.

In this backdrop, the argument that call rates have really fallen, doesnt hold much water. Agreed that companies have huge outlays, they have earned huge profits. For example Airtel earned profits to the tune of 1500+ crores. Exact figures maynot be forthcoming but clearly there is scope for reducing the call rates qualitatively.

I propose that voice calls be made free of cost for a certain number of minutes for upfront payment. In this event, the Access Deficint Charge be totally phased out and inter circle connectivity be made possible instead of routing the calls through the incumbent carrier-BSNL. This way it would be cheaper and cost effective for all the parties involved. In any casee on an average a person cannot call for more than 5 hours per day. That roughly translates to 150 hours per month out of total 720 hours. Witness the total cost savings overall.

In this scenario, where would the money come from? Simple. Content services. The nice people at Content Sutra would be happy to inform you the moves and shakes in the mobile content related services. As it is the mobile service companies are charging premium rates for certain services; Airtel for Kaun Banega Crorepati( Who wants to be a millionaire?)

Reliance has effectively leveraged it’s strength in this and slowly driving up it’s sales on the same count. Reliance to Reliance is free within circle.

The possibilities are endless. I believe that we need some bit of imagination to drive the growth further.

The high international call rates are under threat- if VoIP ( Voice over Internet Protocol ) keeps on getting popular. There have been many stories about the way keep in touch with their associates and families spread out by geographical distances through cheap telephony.

It maybe difficult to give a low down on the various protocols or the existing players in the world market. However, Google’s entry as Google Talk is bound to set the tongues wagging for sure in the media. It is a direct threat to the other players- given the size of Google and it’s intention to rule the desktops.

While there maybe different arguments in the various blogs whether or not Google is streching itself too far, I feel that Broadband in India is going to change the way we interact with each other too. It may be cheaper to voice chat through PC’s than the ordinary telephone- BBC story gives enough “cheer” to ordinary consumers in UK.

In another story, BSNL has partenered with HCL Computers to market it’s broadband. Well, HCL has best been known for crappy underpowered machines, best for the government offices. They haven’t been able to make themselves very popular- despite their advertisements to the contrary. There is a vast difference in what is advertised and what is ultimately sold off. As I had mentioned earlier, no bang for the buck or lousy price to performance ratio. I feel that they want to be seen doing something. In any case, Reliance had partnered with LG computers and bundled their connections with the same. All in the name of making kids intelligent!

A disturbing news that I read somewhere a couple of weeks back. Microsoft is planning to partner with BSNL to seel branded computers for a monthly rental. They are assured of willing unsuspecting customers who would be given the starter edition of Microsoft. That itself limits the functionality to a great deal. I strongly believe in Open Source applications- cheap computers powered by AMD Semprons and with original OS of Ubuntu Linux remains a good alternative for most of the people. Admittedly, Linux is a lot different from Windows-I have no complaints whatsoever with the version I am using. A disclaimer here. Ubuntu is a great product- I found my computing nirvana on a PC with Suse Linux. It is the best product i have ever used.

In any case, India needs to take giant strides if it really wants to become the IT superpower. A small step of the likes of Maran and company is a giant leap backwards for the telecom! IT superpower or not ( despite what the bumbling idiots in NASSCOM claim)- the future is clearly in unbundling the last mile; Open Source(Linux) and minimal involvement of the wrongfully elected representatives.

It’s 10 years since the first mobile call was made. I wanted to write back earlier- however, these 10 years are a start.

For starters- the reported 60 million is a doubtful number. I have raised this question time and again- there is no fixed methodology to count the same. All the numbers are provided by the respective associations- has anyone really bothered to cross check with them ever? This hoopla behind the same sickens me most of the time. Some commentators write in about the same demonstrating total lack of application of mind.

The reported mobile coverage is around 9.5% or less for whole of the country. If we are talking of a “mobile revolutiuon”- the calling costs should have a parity to the purchasing power of the population- they are expensive and overtaxed.

For example, Airtel advertises it’s mobile connection for Rs.200 per month( roughly $4). However, the talk time is just Rs.50 or about a dollar. Rest is pocketed by the government and the company under various heads. Where is the bang for the buck?

Similarly, there is a wrangling over the 3G spectrum. There was a wonderful insight by a reader, who agreed with me that we are jacking up the costs for no reason. Most of the 3G spectrum would be used to deliver content. It may add on more voice spectrum- I believe that existing spectrum is sufficient.

The future bread and butter is going to come from Wireline or Fixed line telephony- upfront payments and content delivery.

Before I forget, in the past 10 years, TRAI has been reduced to a mere spectator. Would TRAI actually intervene in the commercial disputes- and make sure that the end consumer is benefitted from falling costs? The real bosses are Department of Telecom and the Ministry of Communication- totally incomepetent idiots dictating the policies.

Even if we assume the numbers are correct- as reported to be 60 million- that still leaves out vast majority of the population without a basic telephone.

Remember, we are a nation of a billion plus people.