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.

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To me, it appears to be cynicism for all practical purposes. I feel that it would be more worthwhile to dig a deeper in this little “mystery”. Airtel’s shareholding is complex. 30% of the stake is owned by Singtel which in turn is owned by Temasek Holdings; part of Ministry of Finance of Singapore. They are state-run investment pools, known as sovereign-wealth funds and have have some $1.5-2.5 trillion to play with; little is known about them. For example, these holdings opened up their books for inspection only in 2005 and have opaque structures.

Why would Singapore be interested in getting a stake in an African Telecom major MTN Group of Johannesburg. MTN, which operates cellphone systems in Africa and the Middle East, could be worth more than $40 billion in its entirety. But then, telecom valuations are known to be inflated more than their worth.

I could not find any references to Temasek Holdings and it’s relation to Chinese. A big conglomerate of telecom operators can effectively bring the equipment suppliers on the table to negotiate a deal for themselves; not everyone is as smart as Reliance. I have no clue as to why Singapore would fund such glitzy takeovers and investments.

Hence, I would only recommend “cautious optimism” to the news of the takeover. Bharti faces competition from other operators as well.

Here is the complete story on NYT.

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Anti Monopoly watchdog MRTPC issued notices to Airtel , Vodafone and Idea Cellular regarding the price increase on the same day! Here is the frigging legal flotsam if you are interested:

The DGIR said this was a Restrictive Trade Practices by the operators as it distorted the competition and recommended to take action against the three operators under section 2(O) read with 33 (1)(D) of the MRTP Act, 1969.

It’s hard to imagine that any action would come out of this. The legal battery of these companies would swing into action and perhaps settle out of court. They would get a mild rap and it would be business as usual.

In the whole scenario, it is the suffering customer who would keep his mouth shut and not rise up and demand that the prices be rolled back and that they get paid back in kind. Sheesh. I have never come across such a mass of people who choose to suffer in silence and let the operators get away with open loot.

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For 300 bucks more than the basic price for unlimited broadband, I am getting double the speed. I have had no issues with the service as a whole and I am extremely pleased about it. Specially, when I get to read what others are going through.

Interestingly, Reliance has had a soft launch in NCR and they are slowly expanding. It would not be wrong to say that Reliance would look at this extremely lucrative segment; but they would have to spend bucketloads of cash to create a demand for their broadband services. Unless, they strike where Sify or Iquara or Hathway have spread their misery far and wide. They would find droves of eager customers flock for their services. I still hold that the broadband plans have to be compelling enough for people to make the switch.

Airtel’s MBA’s need to tighten up their belts. For all their fancy cars and pay hikes (no, I am not jealous) they come out frothing idiots who would not be able to hold up a bulb to a five year old kid. Their collective IQ amounts to zilch.

Prove me wrong morons. 2Mbps unlimited for 1000 bucks? It’s worth it. I ensure that the entire broadband user forums would be singing paens about you and I promise never to trash you or your collective IQ. Mark my “dangerous” words. The truth is out there. Reliance would surely eat up your share and I am sure most of you would desert Airtel’s sinking ship like rotten rats at the first hint of danger.

Update: This was a “top up” offer where the speeds would be doubled in the night. Bah! This is called as being taken for a “ride”! Sheesh. By the way, I called up the Airtel Customer Care Centre and had to bang my head with dead beat assinine women. They had no clue about the “top up” and it took a lot of cajoling and shouting on the phone to make them see any reason.

I dread calling up the customer care centres; unless one wants to let off his/her steam on the phone or act funny with the “dames”.

Useless offer- Airtel sucks!

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Life can be very drab in a metro specially when one is not keyed in to the “night life”. Hiding behind dollops of artificial life and make believe, Delhi is a contrast of many different worlds in a single place. I have been to the poshest of the posh places, stayed there with family friends and pass by the hovels that pass for a “shelter”. Generations of family members remain cramped in a place running aground with stench and open drains with piles of human excreta strewed around. The definition of “aam aadmi” does not change here and I keep on wondering about the well intentioned affirmative action of the Government.

I work in an ISO certified hospital (and training to be an Oncologist). I see people die under ISO branded doctors. Everyday is a battle with the life and death and unfortunately it is a loosing battle. Patients become “case studies” much to my chagrin because it is difficult to keep an impassioned attitude all the time. Yet, there are scores of nuts who seem to be overtly caring about their near and dear ones expecting miracles.

Delhi does not value human life at all.

I see scores of people running after the buses; an abject failure of the public transport. Metro has eased the hassles to a large extent but it touches roughly 6% of the population. There is a constant tussle of the civic agencies and a perfect example of passing the buck.

The traffic lights abound and at times I wonder whether Delhi is a big red light area. The whole traffic seems to move as if there is a huge amount of pent up energy waiting to be released. There are a large number of nuts racing their vehicles like wannabe Formula one drivers only to break 10 feet ahead at the next red light.

I read about the various prostitution rings and the massage parlours; about the casting couches, about pseduo celebrities et al. The ones who make it the much vaunted page 3 of Delhi Times.

Yet, this place retains it’s eminence for exposure to varying oppurtunities. Being close to the corridors of power opens up a lot of oppurtunites for a person on the social ladder.

I shall be trying to be regular in posting the entries; yet I cannot promise. Life is very hectic. However, I shall be posting anything significant related to the telecom sector here; as usual.

Meanwhile, I signed up for Airtel. There is nothing extraordinary about this service except for the fact that it has a good upload speed. This is a far cry from BSNL. Airtel is plain vanilla broadband without any differentiation for it’s subscribers. MTNL still scores ahead of Airtel solely because of it’s reach. Airtel sucks in many quarters because it has not been able to spread it’s network far and wide as yet.

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