BSNL was rumoured to be going in for an IPO. Mr Pradeep Baijal announced this at some “convergence” meet.

Finally, it took the Department of Telecom Secretary to “clarify” that there is no IPO and BSNL isn’t for sale. Well, the left arm of the Govt. doesn’t know what the right arm is doing.

It’s this monumental stupidity that is institutionalised; with fossilised brains, these bureaucrats are the real stumbling blocks to real telecom revolution. Or whatever we can call it as.

Anyway, the subtext of the IPO shouldn’t be missed. Ever since the UPA government has come in power, they have been selling the country piece meal. I wouldn’t comment on the recent Dubya’s visit- it was more than Nuclear deal. We would see the lateral entry of American Telecom firms in the near future. Either, they would buy out the existing telecom firms or “partner” with them. Further, once the long distance Telecommunications is opened up, we would see a flurry of activity. We might be able to get Skype Out like service; but given the current scenario it seems unlikely.

For all those who claim that “Indian Telecom has arrived on the world scene”, here goes up my middle finger, with the thought that your asses would be stuffed up with load of s***. There is nothing more demeaning than allowing the MNC’s to rampage on our soil. I am not clamouring for protectionism but there is a difference between allowing healthy competition and selling the nation to considered interests.

Finally, Mr Pradeep has retired; there was a small write up on him- similar to his “obituary” in office. Of course, Times of India spoke about his tenures in glowing terms. I won’t set the pessimistic tone here but there is a lot Mr Pradeep missed.

As I had pointed out, they have hoisted a retired bureaucrat in his place. Good bye TRAI. You are now gone and your dead corpse would be feasted by Department of Telecom. Tandoori style or raw? It’s left to their tastes.

Finally, I am adding a category on Convergence. I haven’t yet written anything on the same here but in due course of time, this needs some attention. Specially when Broadband can provide an excellent platform for content delivery. Oh yeah, forget about it on 256k lines, but the future is bright.

As usual, I hope.

Update:
There is a lot of confusion about the proposed IPO. Here are the links from Google news which has more details.

This is the imminent sell off the public assets in the near future. Of course, BSNL- MTNL would be combined; it would be a “strategic partnership” between the Government and private telephone companies. Well, whatever “strategic” means.

I have been getting comments here on this blog, probably from a schizophrenic who is suffering from delusion of persecution. He seems to have some bone of contention with Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Sadly, I have had to delete the comments because of accusations that Airtel had been penetrated by FBI/ CIA agents!

This is of course ludicrous; I cannot allow such stupidity here.

Further, I have observed that people are posting their mails here thinking that we represent some company/ operator. I reiterate this all over again. We are independent bloggers and have no direct/ indirect financial dealing or sponsorship with any telecom company/ operator.

I have to make sure that the discussion stays on course. Your views are most welcome here but mindless insuinations would not be tolerated here.

It’s sad but we can’t help it if there are mentally challanged dumb wit morons clogging the cyberspace. I hate to delete the comments but on par of course, it would be perfect sense. Any more of these and I d turn on the comment moderation till the situation eases up. Hate this censorship myself but why have some one complaining that his/ her mobile isn’t working? What can we, the Techwhack folks, can do for that? It takes a lot to keep the blog clutter free and nil advertisements. Please don’t screw it up.

One more request. In case you wish to recieve a reply, kindly send across a valid email id. This of course, won’t be published on the blog. We hate spam as much as you do.

Thank you.

Update: The comments from one schizophrenic idiot are not ceasing to come through. I disown any of these comments and it has been marked as spam. I hate censorship and I am sure no one likes his/ her comments to be held up for moderation. Kindly refrain from posting libellious comments.

Yes, I have clocked over 500 posts.

Is this something to be proud of? I really wonder. Frankly, Telecom has given me enough gist to write about, enough innanities, BSNL thrashing to the core and well my pet project to start on Digital Divide. I must admit that I am still constrained by lack of time.

The recent flurry of posts was to finish the 500 milestone as soon as possible. Some feeling of satisfaction. We have really gone through a lot early on to keep this up. Even toyed with the idea of having advertisements. Yet, I remain opposed to it because I wish to have a clutter free environment for myself. The same argument can be extended for others too. In any case, it’s easy to block the advertisements by Java Script in Opera which by itself is a no brainer. Sorry, I don’t use Firefox and never liked it. Would you want to have double clickable blinking adverts here? Or me whoring to established interests trying only to highlight the corporate goobledegook? Or just a collection of news which others are trying to do? My efforts are to present a different, often ugly face of what we see yet don’t realise.

There is a lot that can be achieved in Indian Telecom. Yes, we have come far from the tyranny of BSNL monopoly where getting a phone connection meant that you could count your age in due process. It gave them the divine right, as if pre ordained by the creator Himself, to leech on our sanity and our common sense.

It is a far cry from what used to happen. Still, there is a lot of scope for improvement. Classical economists would surely argue about the “business” of governance, that it has no business to be in business in the first case.But, we were wrecked by institutionalised mornishness which refuses to go away as time passes.

Well, I have spoken enough. This remains my baby and I am glad to have nurtured it. With tons of thanks to Sushubh who made this platform happen. Thanks to all you readers who have given in their own incisive comments. Thanks to the Indian Bloggers who have not featured this in the only category of “Indian Telecom”- I can’t imagine myself to be in the company of those “motivated” people. Better off alone than make a sorry ass of myself to myself!

Last but not the least. Thanks to the telecom companies to take the criticism to heart, dismissing me as rants from a opinionated idiot and leaving the matters status quo. Many a times, I have deleted libellous statements which would have surely flamed you. Yet, in a public platform, I avoided.

This blog has surely turned inward looking. There is a lot I would want to change, specifically when we are lagging behind all the major parameters. It would be assinine to expect Mbps becoming a common place and we would still be saddled with narrow band; with congested mobile networks for times to come. With a lax regulatory framework and equally assinine Department of Telecom. This would remain a cash cow for the ministers whom we elect them “democratically” for everything.

Yes, this is India.