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I have cleaned up the sidebar; unfortunately, in it’s prior avatar, it was rather bland. Changes were made to the tag cloud and a category cloud has been added.

One of the major changes in the side bar is addition of Duckduckgo as the default search engine for this site. I have been using it extensively over the past few months and I recommend it thoroughly. I have been in touch with it’s developer, who’s put in his own money and has interesting ideas that are being implemented. My only concern about not using other search engines is the opaque policies on privacy and building up an online user profile to track down the individual customer. The technology isn’t perfect but a major impetus on social network has it downsides.

I am a big fan of RSS; I can’t imagine my life without it. Flipboard and other news readers have gained prominence in recent times, are all RSS readers. Unfortunately, a reader is as good as dead; I haven’t seen any major revamp of Google Reader as yet. I do have some ideas panned out about an ideal RSS reader (namely extraction of data and analyzing and categorizing data in real time), but there has been no development of late. (The only example that comes to my mind is Mutt, but it does not have a GUI front end and it’s terminal interface appeals to it’s users so it’s static there). Feed Daemon is a great client for Windows but I don’t use it so it’s disappointment again.

Nevertheless, now you can have RSS feeds for each category listed. The default has been applied after the revamp so you would get to see it more prominently on the cloud.

I haven’t updated “About” page so a cleaning there is also warranted.

The idea is to make it easier to port OUT the content; rather than the people coming on to the main site. Please email me in case you find any problems in accessing the content since I have extensively checked the implementation on my side.

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This is “out of context” post but I would like to highlight a kick starter campaign for a journalist, whose work I greatly admire. He’s written about the “grave diggers” of India; a rather quirky issue to write but is one of the dark “underexposed” issues in India.

Scott Carney is out there to raise funds for his planned documentary but prior to that he needs to raise funds for a trailor.

You can read more about this here.

Scott has a web site and the link to his other projects is here. His book on The Red Markets is due soon around June in India (based on communication with the author). His write up appeared in Wired recently.

I appeal to all to donate generously.

You can watch the video below:

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Incessant whining and trying to disrupt a new delivery route for your content you weren’t innovative enough to create ourself certainly sounds like Hollywood thinking. However, Hollywood isn’t Netflix’s only problem — with Netflix getting more vocal about the anti-competitive impact of metered billing, North America’s largest ISPs are also going to increasingly be taking aim at the company.
read comment(s)

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Needless to say, it is highly inadequate. I have the right to appeal; but dragging them to Information Commission straight away is not possible. It does not discourage me, to be honest because I had expected this stone walling.

I am taking a legal opinion on this and would update this space soon. I don’t have an access to a scanner; so I would have to snap it up, convert it to a PDF and then upload it somewhere and embed it. Or perhaps directly from image uploading site.

Truly, their attitude sucks. I really don’t know what have they done to deserve my hard earned money to support them.

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I wanted to inspect the documents first; however, it would have meant extra paper work and going to their office; I decided against it. All I need is the reply from their office and I shall update it over a period of time here. In case there is any inconsistency, I have the right to appeal and approach the state information commission.

The big issue here is that it does not constitute ways and means to force them to change their policies; it cannot be done specially when they are going to argue that 256 kbps “unlimited” is dirt cheap per month. The bigger issue is whether 2 Mbps can be made the norm or not.

TRAI has refused steadfastly as far as the definition of broadband is concerned. They haven’t given me any “extra information” on that count. They have also not mentioned as to who has defined the broadband. They took the cover of contestable ITU definition that is as vague as it can be. I am sure that BSNL would duck under cover of “regulator” knows it all. Hence, we are back to square one.

Who decides then that 2 Mbps should be bare minimum? I think that RTI should provide us some answers regarding the pricing details and their sources. It’s a long drawn process and companies don’t want to act because it would spoil their status quo. TRAI’s officials are looking at post retirement lucrative options to join a fancy board of some telecom company. It is easier to feed fat a bastard than to service the mass of customers. We all know the story, isn’t it? Specially when Pradeep Baijal was hauled up by the investigative agencies. Backroom manipulations ensured that there was not much drama made out of the “news”. No one knows who Baijal is and frankly no one cares.

It’s a messy country.

Lets wait for their answers to come. The application submitted in their ‘dak section’ would take at least 1 day to wind it’s way towards the orders; the file containing the reply would take another 2-3 days to be dispatched and thereafter it is at the mercy of Department of Posts to deliver it to my premises. Do you know that a speed post (courier) takes 5 days to be delivered WITHIN the same city? Specially when I stay just 3 kms from the exchange and the head post office?

Deva re deva!

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Hence it is to have them admit on paper that the prices have “stagnated” indeed. 256 kbps is nothing in this day and age when the speeds elsewhere have touched over Gigabits.

The “perfect pricing” can always be debated. I would root for ATLEAST 2 mbps for INR 700-900 price band. This of course has to come with any stupid “fair usage policy”. In any case, wherever there is abuse of the network, they ought to ask the customer to perhaps a higher speed band.

Network abuse is in built and the very idea that traffic is being monitored ought to be deterrent enough. In any case, even with the restricted traffic shaping, I hardly see any traction in the space; it is an awful experience to stream the videos or access data intensive web sites.

If majority of the user space in India centers on Social Networking/Matrimonial sites and email, I don’t foresee any “overloading” of the networks. If they are really interested in lowering the overall costs, then they have to explore alternatives like NIXI to peer the data amongst themselves or cache the data for faster access.

Why BSNL then? Foremost reason is that I am it’s customer. Secondly, it can be alleged that because of it’s “monopolistic stance”, the real “revolution” in speeds and prices has to come only after goading it to work. If BSNL as the “market leader” is made to act on prices being offered, others have to match up to it. Well, thats what the intention in the long run is.

One more thing. I have specifically asked for the various break up charges. I strongly feel that the charges ought to be in public domain. How much is BSNL really affected? It is buying bandwidth from upstream and distributing it (apart from owning it’s own gateways, if I am not mistaken). One ought to know how much it really costs to move gigabytes of data on it’s pipes. In the same vein, RTI filed with TRAI previously was very clear that there is nothing like “Fair Usage Policy”. Hence it would at least force BSNL to acknowledge that FUP is “illegal” and help is to fix a responsibility as to who has come up with the idea. He/She should be hauled up over the coals.

Hence this is truly a disruptive power of RTI to expose the cosy nexus between the various ISP’s because they are defrauding their customers. One particular issue that caught my eye was FTH service being advertised as “upto 1 Mbps” and being more expensive than the same service being offered by DSL. Hence, I have asked them for an explanation about the same and the differential in pricing. FTH is not being advertised heavily which has the real potential for future.

I am also keen to know about the “limitation of upload speeds” of 768 kbps (as per their web site); I feel that this is an artificial restriction and should have their response on “traffic shaping”.

It is very clear from the outset that much of the information would be withheld, not revealed etc etc. Hence the best option is to wait, file an appeal and then present the case strongly in the state information commission.

I am willing to fight it out.

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Fact of the matter is that the so called “associations” have done precious little to lobby for the access. The biggest promise was that of unbundling the local loop; i.e. open up BSNL’s rotting rat infested telephone exchanges for others so that broadband can be rejigged. It wasn’t so. It was rejected on the grounds that it amounted to privatization of the behemoth. We are none to wiser about it. After years of facing pathetic access, we are now forced to put up with pathetic Fair Usage Policies.

Mind you. My own RTI application from TRAI has clearly shown that these so called Fair Usage Policies are “extra-constitutional” and “illegal” meaning thereby that they don’t have the official sanction. It also means that TRAI has not done anything in this regard. At present, I have been busy wrapping up my work so it leaves me little time to pursue this. Of late, I am still waiting for the appeal filed against TRAI with CIC; bump….I have no word from them.

But then how united are we to face these idiots and force to act the way consumers want them? I find the different plans bumpkin. For once, the “lowest paid plan” is the one that no one wants; specially when it comes with dastardly and bastardly speeds. The Indian mindset plays spoilsport here and I cannot really blame the so called “market forces”. Nevertheless, it is a matter of debate as to what sells and I cannot really point out a clear cut answer in the absence of solid data.

This brings forth the question of laying down fresh lines to service the market when already huge amounts of public monies have been spent over the past 50 years. Broadband is a long term planning with a huge amount of gestation built in. How many dumbfucks appreciate 1 Mbps? No one really notices the “speed” unless one wants minimal latency to connect their fancy PC’s or X Boxes. The population is minuscule.

Secondly, the recumbent operators are just not keen to service their areas. Has anyone heard of BSNL or even MTNL getting pro active to service their customers? They have the most fug ugly women to service their front desks who would make you feel as if you are interacting with your grannies. The point here is that an average run of the mill customer would hardly want to interact with a staff that is not inspired to service your needs.

So it all boils down to opening up the “exchanges” and allowing the people with gumption to lay down fat pipes and optic fiber cables to bring forth the goodies. It is not going to happen soon but then this is definitely a “suggestion”.

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I am terribly disappointed by their response. Hypothetical? My foot. I had asked pointed questions and everything here is in public domain. Even the response received from them which I got scanned and put it up here. To say that TRAI is full of assholes, is truly an understatement.

I was not even called for the appeal which is unfair. This case was decided “ex parte” which is not called for. Indeed, it is my privilege to attend the hearing; it is my call (as per the law) whether or not I need to go their dung infested shit holes.

I am not even surprised that they have not even bothered to go in the nature of the appeal but rather dismiss it as “fucking hypothetical”. What was the b**** even thinking about? Is it possible to quell the public opinion just because these motherfuckers are bedfellows with the vested corporate interests? What the FUCK is the Government of India doing as we all get raped for the public convenience that truly belongs to us?

I am sorry to say but we have juvenile delinquents hired as “regulators” who are not even fit to stand tall on their two feet but then it’s too much to ask for these creepy crawly lowly beings. They ought not forget that EVERYTHING about them is out in the public domain; although it is not a “personal fight” but based on their responses, I might even be compelled to ask them for their qualification, the reason they have been appointed for this job and their merits.

The second appeal, of course, is now the CIC, New Delhi and thats where I am headed. In order to maintain the transparency, each of the exchange of the email, the response received and the action taken would all be in pubic domain, that is, here on this blog.

May I also hasten to add that the frequency of posts has dwindled down in recent times because I am very busy with the academic pursuits and it is difficult to move ahead full steam with the present case as well as do justice to this blog. Nevertheless, I am expecting some response from CIC and since the courthouses are open for all, in the event that this case lands up there, I invite you all to present your side of the story.

I shall keep you informed via this blog or through the forums. Stay in touch and I am even more determined to take the fight to the finish.

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This is my first experience with Right to Information Act and has been a learning one too. The excitement is palpable because I can feel that there is some delivery of justice at the ground level. If required, I would be going down personally for the hearing, press upon them the need for a better broadband, force TRAI to eat crow and for once listen to the consumers to act proactively.

For long, huge amount of public funds have been spent on supporting these morons in office. Where is the bloody accountability?

I am awaiting response from CIC regarding the pendancy of my application and it’s status. Once it is accepted, subject to the approval, I guess the next step would be to screw the PIO and his boss regarding the denial of information. Let’s see what happens!

I shall duly update the whole thing here.

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To me, it appears like a simple game. The “base” access is 256 kbps; anything over and above that is a “value added service”. I have no clue as to how the whole thing is priced but logic dictates that it is incremental profit for the telecom companies. The costs are fixed for “digging” up the roads, fixing up the telephone connections and if they are able to give an “error” free connection, people are loath to change their service providers in a jiffy. In any case, landlines are more reliable than a mobile connection because they are not prone for “congestion” or call drops as the case with the airwaves is.

TRAI has not addressed the customer claims so far. I remember the time when I had to struggle upfront against BSNL to start with “unlimited” connection. It was a long fight and after emailing them incessantly, I managed to get “true freedom”.

Right to Information Act has changed the game plan by giving the customer real power in terms of information. I have earlier mentioned that it is one of the most progressive legislation in the history ii independent India because the grass roots policy can be questioned to bring about a change. The appellate authority has 45 days to respond to the appeal failing which I would be escalating the matter to CIC, New Delhi and press for charges against the respective Information Officers.

I would have been happy had this case got the media scrutiny and then bring TRAI on the mat and screw them LITERALLY. For long, we have suffered enough lobbies because it doesn’t suit them. Trust me, we have enough bandwidth to support millions of ‘unlimited connections’ but are at the mercy of the likes of ISP’s like Sify and Airtel. Those associations have money, legal power and reach in the media. We as individual customers, don’t.

I find the idea to “petition” totally useless. If anything has to happen in democracy, one has to reach out to do something. Clicking on the petition is a SURE SHOT sign that you are a f***ing impotent asshole. This “clickitivism” does nothing because these petitions are as good as useless. If you are so overtly concerned about your rights, it’s a better option to hurl some stones outside their corporate offices after ganging up. Or protest outside naked with a group of people. That would generate more news rather than sitting on your sorry ass for want of doing ‘something’.

I appreciate all of your concerns and do stay glued here for any news. I shall update it as soon as I get any information.

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Having the useless information from the Public Information Officer, I explored ways and means to get the FULL information from TRAI.

It appears that there is a huge lobby to keep the definition of broadband as 256 kbps which can be “offered” at an attractive “price”. Anything over and above that is chargeable at a higher price. The companies incur a fixed price to extend the wire from the exchange to your premises. However, after that, we have no clue as to how a company, for example, Airtel justifies it’s monthly costs to service me as a customer. In the recent price fall, on what basis, the price was reduced? On what basis, the earlier price point was maintained?

The PIO has not specifically mentioned about the fair usage policy. Under no circumstances, does this fair usage policy apply, nor it is mandated, nor it is ‘legal’. I have no clue about whether TRAI is aware of such a thing but in any case, it needs a follow up and TRAI should be forced to stop the unfortunate usage.

In the long term, the license of these firms needs to be made public; how these private companies acquire them, how they charge and what are their revenue sources. Their accounts need to be audited and everything should be in the public domain.

I am only interested in a bare bones 2 Mbps connection and any other value added service maybe charged for. That is a legitimate right to make a profit. However, charging exorbitant rates for something as simple as a plain vanilla broadband access is unfair and the customer needs to be put in the loop.

I am reproducing the mail to the appellate authority in full. The best part is that I don’t have to pay the requisite fees and I am sure that the PIO would be put under the mat. TRAI should exert itself as an authority and not a hand maid of the various lobbies. Lets fight them!

November 23rd 2009

To,

Smt. Sadhana Dikshit,
Pr. Advisor (FA &IFA) & Appellate Authorit,
TRAI, Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan,
Jawaharlal Nehru Marg,
Old Minto Road,
New Delhi-110 002.

Sub: Misleading, incoherent and incomplete reply received from PIO, Mr. P.K. Dutta vide letter No. 1(229)/2009-RTI dated 18th November 2009.

Respected Madam,

With reference to the above mentioned subject, the reply received from PIO Mr. P.K. Dutta is INCOMPLETE, INCOHERENT,ABSOLUTELY MISLEADING and NOT TO MY SATISFACTION AT ALL.

1) The definition of Broadband mentioned as per the letter is and I quote verbatim, “minimum speed of Broadband has been kept at 256 kpbs (sic) as per definition adopted by International Telecommunications Union(ITU).

After accessing the website of ITU, the picture is entirely different.
It says and I quote verbatim,” Recommendation I.113 of the ITU Standardization Sector defines broadband as a “transmission capacity that is faster than primary rate Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) at 1.5 or 2.0 Megabits per second (Mbits)”.
(Accessed from http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/birthofbroadband/faq.html and accessed on 22nd November 2009).

Hence this information is INCORRECT AND MISLEADING a customer.

2)The question number “4, 5 and 6” in the letter to PIO dated 6th November have NOT been answered. I had specifically asked:

Does fair usage policy violate any of the provisions of TRAI?
If it does, what action can be taken against errant Internet Service Provider?
Has any Internet Service Provider been ever penalised for violating for introducing “fair usage policy?

NO ANSWERS WERE GIVEN SPECIFICALLY TO THESE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS and it amounts to WITHOLDING THE INFORMATION.
Further, If the usage of the term “FAIR USAGE POLICY” is ‘illegal’. What action has TRAI taken to notify the various Internet Service Providers to avoid the usage of term and it’s implementation for ‘reducing the speeds’ to 50%’ of the availed plan. The following definition of Fair Usage Policy is taken from Airtel available as a pdf download from their website (www.airtel.in/applications/xm/Fair_Usage_Policy.pdf)

“Under the policy we have defined fair usage levels for unlimited data transfer plans and
needless to mention, the usage levels set are very generous such that most customers will not
be affected by the Fair Usage Policy. On reaching the fair usage level, the plan speed would be rationalized by up to 50% for the restof the monthly billing cycle.”
IS TRAI AWARE OF SUCH A POLICY? WHAT ACTION HAS TRAI TAKEN TO AVOID THE USAGE OF THIS TERM?

3)Question number 8 in letter dated 6th November 2009 was specific and has NOT been answered to MY SATISFACTION, namely,
Has TRAI suggested reducing the price for various plan combinations?If yes, what is the base price fixed for an unlimited Internet Connection by any Internet Service Provider? If no, is there any provision whereby TRAI can act on behalf of the customer to reduce the prices?

I need to know whether TRAI speaks on behalf of the customers, whether TRAI asks the service providers about the break up of the various tariff plans as to under what head the various tariff plans are designed and on what basis the end customer is charged for availing the services of the various Internet Service Providers.

4)Question number 9 has NOT been answered at all namely, “ How has the tariff on unlimited broadband (1Mbps unlimited) being offered by Bharti Airtel fixed line been calculated?”

Please rush the information to me by speed/registered post at the following address listed below. In case the requisite information is not provided to me by the mandatory period, I have the option to escalate the matter to the second appellate authority namely CIC, New Delhi.

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1) To the definition of broadband, TRAI maintains that they have adopted the ‘minimum’ definition of International Telecom Union (ITU) as the speed. Let’s see the context in which the definition of ‘broadband’ has been adopted in their “vision document”

Many people associate broadband with a particular speed of transmission or a certain set of services, such as digital subscriber loop (DSL) or wireless local area networks (wLANs). However, since broadband technologies are always changing, the definition of broadband also continues to evolve. Today, the term broadband typically describes recent Internet connections that range from 5 times to 2000 times faster than earlier Internet dial-up technologies. However, the term broadband does not refer to either a certain speed or a specific service. Broadband combines connection capacity (bandwidth) and speed. Recommendation I.113 of the ITU Standardization Sector defines broadband as a “transmission capacity that is faster than primary rate Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) at 1.5 or 2.0 Megabits per second (Mbits)”.

So there is NO question of this being ’256 kbps’ as is the current ‘definition’ of Broadband as we know it.

2) TRAI does not define the meaning of the term ‘fair usage policy’ or ‘unlimited internet’. This means that everything which is being advertised is against it’s rules and does not have the sanction of the regulator. To my question of taking action against the advertisement of such claims, TRAI is silent.

3) TRAI in it’s RTI application only mentioned about the various tariffs that need to be reported to it about 5-7 days in advance before they are introduced in the market. The tariffs are under “forbearance” and TRAI has no rule in framing the various tariff plans. But does it act when there are only a few players in the market? Does it act against the established oligopolies?

TRAI cannot deny me the information; I am filing a repeat RTI and also appealing against the the present reply to the appellate authority.

The fight against the established players and lobbies continues. The first step is to actually commit these idiots to “change the definition of broadband” from measly 256kbps to a bare minimum of 2Mbps as per the definition of ITU.

LETS SCREW THEM!!!

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I still cannot understand the “mobile story” and “fastest growth” crap. More and more people are migrating towards parallel connections instead of the trickle down effect as expected. Agreed that “lifetime incoming offers” have appealed to the segment of population who keep their mobiles only for incoming calls, the precentage is far and few inbetween. We have no break up of the demographic profile and if the trends are to be seen, much of the money and the effort is being poured in the metros where there is more of a spending power as compared to other cities.

I have three telephone connections; one for regular use, the other a landline for broadband access and the thrid for calling up other Reliance numbers. Overall, I fail to understand as to how they would account for the “churn” or the “fastest growing segment” because I have never been enamoured of using the VAS. The operators know that there bread and butter segment is the voice calls and I am sure that they would implement the VoIP solutions to cut down on their costs. Everything else is flotsam and media generated hype.

In the same vein, most of the other handset manufacturers are clearly not making any efforts to address the cost of the handsets. Barring the advertising costs, if they implement open source solutions for the newer PDA’s, it can reduce the cost of the handsets to a large extent. Google’s Android would effect this to a large extent; though, I would reserve my comments on it till the time I actually get to use it. It’s still in the nascent stage; I am sure it would mature with the next release as they learn from their mistakes.

Vodafone has not addressed the GPRS connection charges; I still have to come across a reliable operator who can ensure a seamless connectivity across the major highways. I would want to access the Internet on a long boring journey; it remains a pathetic experience to even open up the mailbox. I don’t favor the mobile net on the move partly because of my bais for broadband and partly because it’s assinine to peer in the small screen. Unless of course, one has an iPhone and Safari which makes it a pleasure to surf on the small screen. Brilliant conceptual implementation.

The elections are nearing and I am keeping my fingers crossed for some semblance of the maturity on the following government to provide a clear direction to the broadband access and policy. We can do a lot more once we have a reliable connectivity. We dont need fancy laptops for kids in rural India to demonstrate the “modern with rural” mating. Its assinine to pour in money for something which just remains a showcase and earns you f***ing brownie points for “corporate social responsibility”.

This is just a loose string of thoughts as I was travelling back down. Although, it is a fascinating experience to see the rural landscape change. We realise that there is a lot of untapped potential and there is a chance to “change”.

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If Sunil Bharti Mittal is not shitting in his pants yet, he is the biggest moron in the industry. Reliance would be smart enough to upstage the existing players by slashing the costs ruthlessly. I am sure they would sweeten the deals with subsidised handsets or may even give them free initially. Imagine the multiplier effect it would have! They would make their money with locked in handsets and if I can see the situation right, they would go in for bottom of the pyramid where the real voumes lie. Unlike Airtel which has not been able to differentiate it’s offerings or establish it’s brand identity or the typical South Delhi crowd that ohhs aahh’s about the Vodafone screwed up pug. You get the drift.

Raja changed the rules of the game. Videocon (and notice the word “con”) too joined in the fray. Dhoot Sahib is the newest entrant to the millionaire club though would appeal to a typical pan chewing marwari unlike Bharti Mittal who gets himself invited to fancy conclaves. Dhoot too has the foresight to hit below the belt; even though he is an also ran in the electronics market, he has enough foresight to cash out his investment and make a neat pile. Interestingly, a company called as Swan Telecom has been allocated spectrum. I have heard (from my sources) that it is a front end for Reliance only.

In the game of shakers and movers, Airtel can look forward to monetise it’s investment in fixed line telephony. Even though there is a lot of brouhaha about the 3G licences on stake, it would not happen overnight. India is a volumes market and GPRS/EDGE is seriously a load of bull crap multiplied several times over. 3G handsets wouldn’t be affordable atleast for the next 5 years and crowing about Mbps wireless speeds makes no sense. Atleast to me. Unless we speak of Wifi networks in public places. Of course, being powered by fixed lines….

Raja has done a great deal of disservice to the nation by not auctioning off the spectrum. It’s difficult to quantify the exact money that has played in here. We need to know as to why cross over licence was given to the select few. Further, GSM companies have had to eat crow for their insistence on subscriber linked spectrum allocation and for too long they have been getting away with it. When TRAI declared that the subscriber’s number should be 2-3 times the existing number (and all kinds of Government agencies came into limelight to ascertain the spectrum issue), the companies had to sit back and huddle in silence.

The next move is being planned by smart ass lawyers who are going to make a killing in the next few weeks. The legal eagles would surely feast on this unholy carcass.

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He explored the matter and raised the issue on Broadband Forum He tried to raise the issue at mouthshut.com which claims to be a “neutral” website for consumer reviews. However, his posts were manipulated and deleted by the people behind the website.

This by itself is a matter of grave concern. None from the company responded to the customer’s plight despite the various deadlines. They ignored him like they do to thousands others. What I didn’t realise is that most of the ISP’s donot have toll free numbers which makes it very expensive for the customer to call in and lodge their complaints.

TRAI is supposed to act as a regulator but is more like a emasculated paper tiger. None of the ISP’s seem to care two hoots for the “regulator” because on it’s own it cannot act. Even though there are legal safeguards for the customers, they are not enforced. This only has emboldened the companies to act against the same customers without giving them the services promised for.

This customer in question has been made to suffer downtimes and deficiency in service. In effect, this is clear breach of the service agreement with the customer to provide him a decent service. I understand that the company responded to customer via it’s communication arm where in they just sought to wash off their hands of the matter claiming that the downtime is beyond their control.

Tata Broadband (and erstwhile VSNL) has been stuck up in a time warp. I understand that a mainstream media channel is interested in the story and might be airing this segment in October. I would appeal to all to list their problems with their ISP’s (and Tata in particular) for possible resolution. If this gets aired in media without Tata’s response it would be a major embarrasment for them.

For very obvious reasons, I have obscured the details here. Follow the story in the forums or here and watch it unfold!

I am copying and pasting the details as on the forum for your perusal.

MouthShut tried to take the following text off their website 7 times… I am back [yet again] because many of you did read it (550+ individuals) and many did like it because it was very helpful to them! very helpful to them!

I simply ask: Why should you all not know the truth?

In my fight with the ISP — VSNL/ TATA-indicom — I have escalated my issue(s) to the highest level now and look forward to an excellent cooperation from the media to help fight the cause for us consumers.

I have been the ISPs customer since February 15th, 2006. The following is a listing of the continuing faults, i.e. my allegations:

1. Constant breaks in service, i.e. connectivity.*
=> The line is down 10-30% of the time every month… it has been even up to 80% at times.
2. Constant fluctuation in bandwidth (down- & upload speeds).
=> I bought and pay in full for 256 kbps (256 kbps Infinity Post Paid) but only get 201 kbps (download) and 160 kbps (upload) speeds!
3. Low speeds that range from 10-100 kbps (kilobit per second) occur often.
=> Connections like this make browsing next to impossible… this happens often and is not called a break in service!
4. No credits for short and also prolonged lapses in service.
=> Despite all the breaks in service, drops in speed, lacking bandwidth, very little or no credits are given.
5. Incorrect and unprofessional billing.
=> If you get 6 different versions of printed bills with next to no credits for proven downtimes OR lapses in service, you can call it a fraud!
6. Long wait times to register complaints.
=> Wait times on a non toll-free number can be up to 12 minutes.
7. No toll-free number to register complaints at VSNL cost.
=> All calls are made at the consumers cost – and these amount to many calls a month!
8. Non-functional (also slow) web mail services.
=> The VSNL webmail services are a catastrophe!
9. Incapability to correct my address.
=> After over 17 months and 5 reminders there are still mistakes in the address!
10. The ISP is interrupting my business and hence influencing my life’s quality!
=> It is obvious that someone who is so dependant upon a functional and fast internet cannot do his work under the circumstances!

Some facts for you:
- I have been a VSNL/ TATA-indicom customer since February 2006.
- I have lodged 85+ official complaints (with unique complaint numbers!).
- I have sent them 50+ eMails, reprimanding them.
- I have been forced to spend more than 2,100 minutes on the phone with them.
- I have billed them for Rs 1.5+ lacs in expenses/ cost to me (increasing by the day!).
- I have written to the VSNL CMD, Mr. Subodh Bhargava (5+ times).
- I have written to the TRAI Chairman, Mr. Nripendra Misra (once!).
- I have involved CNN-IBN to fight for me/ us.*
- I have filed an RTI application with the TRAI RTI Officer Mr. Jiwan Dass (once!).
- CNN-IBN has now handed in a DVD to VSNL with the allegations.*

The contact details (in case you have a grouse against your ISP, specifically TATA, is as following”

Mr. Subodh Bhargava
CMD
VSNL – Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (TATA-indicom)
Bangla Sahib Marg
New Delhi – 110 001
Delhi
Home Phone: +91-124-5063146
eMail: s.bhargava@vsnl.co.in

Mr. R. K. Khushu
PA to CMD
VSNL – Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (TATA-indicom)
Bangla Sahib Marg
New Delhi – 110 001
Delhi
Office Phone: +91-11-23747319
eMail: rk.khushu@vsnl.co.in

Ms. Mamta Jain
Customer Assurance Head
VSNL HQ – Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (TATA-indicom)
M. G. Road, Fort
Mumbai – 400 001
Maharashtra
Office Phone: +91-22-66101240
eMail: mamta.jain@vsnl.co.in

Mr. Nripendra Misra
Chairman
TRAI – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan
Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Old Minto Road)
New Delhi – 110 002
Delhi
Office Phone #1: +91-11-23211236
Office Phone #2: +91-11-23213409
eMail #1: cp@trai.gov.in
eMail #2: trai@del2.vsnl.net.in

Mr. Jiwan Dass
RTI Officer/ Chief Public Information Officer
TRAI – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan
Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Old Minto Road)
New Delhi – 110 002
Delhi
Office Phone: +91-11-23211622
eMail: jiwandass@trai.gov.in

Hope this gets carried out to it’s logical conclusion.

Take your own battle to them and copy me on your correspondence(s) if you like. Don’t forget: if you release the pressure on the ISP (Internet Service Provider) nothing will [ever] change.

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However, I would need time, a lawyer to interpret the rulings and someone with an understanding of TRAI act. I believe that there is some provision to make it work.

Remember, that this is in public interest and more the people, the better it is for us to get broadband that we deserve. I am sick of their promises and it’s time we exercise our right. I dont expect the media to help us because they are easily bought and sold.However, if someone from that industry is willing to help us, I would be more than happy.

Presently, I am based in Delhi. Would it be possible to get together and chalk out a plan? It would make sense to set up a wiki or collaborate. I know, after the initial enthusiasm, the interest might vain off. However, I am not keen to rest till this matter is sorted out in it’s entirety. I remember the time when the interested consumers got together to act as a pressure group and forced BSNL to introduce unlimited plans. We would now want to have all caps removed, definition of broadband to be minimum 2 Mbps, all restrictive slabs to be removed and charges for broadband access strictly on the basis of value added services.

These dodos have enough bandwidth to supply but they are creating artificial scarcity. This is totally against the free market economics and anti consumer. TRAI as a watchdog has clearly failed in it’s duty.

There is an NGO called as Telecom Watchdog. I don’t know about their origins. I believe that they would be willing to help the consumers and it would be worthwhile to argue the case in the court about the artificial caps for broadband access.

Let me know if this is possible. Empty your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks in advance.

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For the same reason, I have never favoured iPods. I’d agree that they are beautiful. They can be easily navigable. But they don’t deliver bang for the buck. It doesn’t always boil down to having the “best” and the “latest” and paying oodles extra for the “coolness” factor. Or that “I have it too”.

Apple iPhone generated a lot of “news” online. After all, it is one smart phone that has wowed the geek audiences. Most of the people were willing to ignore the crappy AT&T services that were bundled for over two years. And that the speeds of access negate everything that iPhone aims to sell.

It is a classic Apple approach to sell underpowered hardware and generate sales for incremental hardware upgrades for later versions. Perhaps they would upgrade the hard drive; change colours, have a better camera or make it work on “better neworks”. I cannot crystal gaze but Jobs needs loads of marketing crap to sell the future versions in the Mac Expos.

However, all this marketing hype has laid focus squarely on the “leaders” like Nokias and Erricsons of the world. With it’s crappy N series handsets, Nokia has not exactly been able to take the market by storm. Their marketing campaigns are squarely based on rolling everything into one which makes the handsets bulky and unweildy. I own a simple basic handset that helps me to stay connected; this is the future driver of the growth for developing countries and I believe that incremental improvements in the battery life or menus would help them to retain the market confidence. At best, the Taiwainese/Korean companies are gearing up to meet the challange from Apple onslaught. I doubt whether they would succeed in the competitive US market; however no one would deny them the chance to innovate. Nokia needs to update it’s Symbian OS which is clunky and slow.

I believe that the sole focus of iPhone is to test market the mobile media and means to access the same. As Internet becomes ubiquitous, the content (and the service providers) would chase you wherever you are.

I believe that the porn industry would squarely benefit from the introduction of iPhone. They have been at the forefront of the technological revolution and it would be interesting to see frustrated “jerkins” using the in thing to surf porn. AT&T is no stranger to this and they have been distributing porn earlier on.

It would be hard to do any justice to this post without linking on to what others are saying. Youth Curry raises a valid point about Apple loosing it’s sales in India because of it’s inept marketing and expensive overheads in form of duties and taxes. Unfortunately, Apple has been loosing sales to illegitimate channels which makes it worse from their perspective. Yet, noting is being done. I wouldn’t be seeing this phone till about next year. This means that only the black market would rule with it’s prices presently.

Opera Watch says that Opera Mini is a better bet anyday. iPhone’s zoom feature is nothing new; it was all there in Opera Mini since it’s launch. Another added advantage is the ability to use a virtual cursor by just using the keys on the keyboard. This makes is much more universal in appeal. Imagine using Opera Mini on the iPhone. I am not sure whether it would be possible to download and install Mini on your sexy brand new acquisition.

Early reviews on the same blog entry show that iPhone is slow. This is to be expected when a “new generation” phone is launched on ancient networks.

Emergic had a series of articles written from across the blogosphere about iPhone. (1,2,3,4,5) Much of it is the adulation of the “iconic iPhone” and makes no sense. However, Cringely hits the nail in the head squarely. He writes :

The iPhone absolutely needs AJAX applications for the phone to be a success on AT&T’s EDGE network. By pushing more functional logic into the browser, the bandwidth consumed per http round-trip is significantly reduced, making the phone apps faster and helping to justify that big price tag. The problem with this is that AJAX apps don’t always work the same (or at all) on every browser. The iPhone has real browser support, which is good, but remember AJAX is based on JavaScript, which in this case is not so good. JavaScript isn’t statically typed and each browser has its own version of JavaScript. Developers are typically forced to hand-code different versions of their AJAX apps for different browsers. With the AJAX economy dictating that browsers with big market share like IE and Firefox get most of the effort, that leaves Safari as a second-class browser and, potentially, a liability for the iPhone.

He feels that iPhones have been deliberately crippled for performance.

Remember that a key component of iPhone marketing is that the device will run a version of OS X, making it more computer than phone. When the iPhone finally ships and some techies have voided their warranties and torn the thing apart, they’ll probably find it uses a processor running at a gigahertz or more — by far the fastest processor ever put in a mobile phone — a processor more powerful than that in my Mom’s PC. With all that power locked inside, of course some users will want to imagine their iPhone AS their PC, which Apple — at least for now — would rather not enable because it might hurt Macintosh sales. So they’ve hobbled the iPhone with essentially the same crappy text entry capability as on any other phone.

Where does that leave Indian market in all that? Apple has been smart enough to realise that the growth story being talked off here is all hogwash. The number of the new handset sales does not justify the accrued numbers. However, there are no concrete statistics for the second hand handset sales. The number may be higher or lower than the professed numbers.

Further, the market is maturing in terms of people willing to try out the value added services. Yet, the billing hassles have not yet been resolved. Another problem is that we hardly get to see demand for “unlimited access”; I believe that some of the operators have such schemes. It truly defines “world wide wait” (www) as it is intended to be. The speed of access is pitiable as compared to dial up for a contrast.

Lets wait and watch for it’s debut in India.

Update: This has been crossposted on Desicritics.

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This quarter has seen some record profits being posted by the telecom companies. How much of it is financial jugglery? I wouldn’t know. It is hard to believe the absoulte (or estimated numbers) of 115 million mobile subscribers and I would keep my negativism intact.

Reliance is revamping it’s operations. Arguably the days of megabit speeds would possibly take eternity and it’s broadband remains moribund. 150kbps unlimited? How can they market it as ‘broadband’? In the mobile space, Reliance is advertising a slew of handsets- aspirational stuff for the common masses indeed. The low prices are mostly for the Chinese handsets and my guess for it’s longetivity is as good as yours. The handset majors seem to avoid CDMA like poison and the real action is still in the GSM space.

Spice Punjab has seen major acquisition by Telekom Malaysia and they would be majorly using this inflow of money to upgrade their congested networks. According to a source, it would take roughly 3 months to start the due process. Meanwhile, Spice is planning to acquire licences for other circles. No doubt it would take time and efforts to update the whole due process. I shall keep you posted about this company. Primarily for a simple reason. It had perhaps one of the highest ARPU’s earlier on because it was the sole service provider in Punjab market. Things went on a downhill slide when Airtel, backed by Bharti, went on a major offensive against Spice. Spice has augmented it’s revenues by bundling the services with it’s own manufactured handsets.

MTNL has introduced IPTV and is charging 300 per month for free to air television shows. I haven’t seen IPTV ever in real time so it would difficult to pass any judgement on the same. BSNL has introduced gaming services and it seems to be nominal. The best part is that the gaming services donot get counted in the final bill or the data downloads so it should appeal to majorly. Unless of course, they put in the crappiest servers with a huge lag time. So by the time you poit and shoot your enemy, you are already dead!

BSNL was to announce a mega tender for it’s GSM lines which got nixed in the Delhi high court. I believe it was Motorola which was the aggrieved party. Strange. Had it been for Airtel (which announced the deal with Nokia), there are usually no court hearings. I am sure there is something wrong somewhere.

One India has been rejigged and relaunched with full page advertisements crowing about the “achievements” of the present government. It isnt worth the price of a toilet paper even with the foreign bitch’s face on it.

Reliance is offering Mobile blogging platform. You could see a lot of idiots trying to post in from their mobiles. Sure they would and then crow about it.

DTH is still not seeing the volumes to break even. However, the cable operators are running around scared kittens. They have reduced the monthly rentals (by underdeclaring the subscriber base) and surprisingly, the complaints are attended to. I am planning to go in for a DTH; though I am waiting for the market to throw up a clear differentiator from the existing players. Lets see how things work out.

Reliance is planning to launch the GSM services (apart from the North Eastern States it operated in). It may sound illogical thing to do but I am willing to go in by the GSM lobby that it works out to be cheaper as compared to CDMA. Even though CDMA as a technology is better than GSM. Does it mean that consumers would get more choice? I doubt. Though I do know that Anil Ambani has a lot of cash to burn up.

Bangalore is getting wireless internet connectivity in select areas. Mind you, it can’t solve it’s civic problems as yet.

On the personal front too, I am firmly entrenched in Radiation Oncology. I wish I could blog about it full time including the case discussions et al. However, the present state of affairs leaves me little time for anything else.

I do hope that I am able to update this blog on a regular basis. Though as usual, it is the RSS feeds that make sense. Thanks for sticking by and seeing through. I really hope that things change for the better.

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However, IPTV or Internet Protocol Television would call for massive investments in the hardware/ delivery channels. At current speeds of 256k, it’s a no brainer give away that BSNL’s rat infested exchanges would collapse like nine pins.

There has been some movement on ground earlier on. This is mentioned here. Given the current scenario, I was wondering whether the content would choke the existing lines. At present, Reliance is the only company that has firm plans for IPTV roll out.

So how do you marry today’s technology with the possible future? Interestingly, Ramesh Jain and Robert Cringely have the answers.

Dr. Ramesh Jain writes:

When Video on Demand first appeared, it was considered to be a vehicle for providing a time shifted TV for popular video content so people can watch any movie or a popular program at their convenience in the comfort of their home…It was clear that the cost of the infrastructure was too high compared to the demand. In place of VoD becoming a big buzz world, it slowly became dormant.

IPTV is in simple terms video on internet….This in fact is the convergence of communication, computing, and content.IPTV is a real transformation in the society. IPTV brings TV media to masses not only as a consumer but also as a producer.

Robert Cringely has something else to write: ( My comments in the brackets)

The Internet television story, even as written here in columns going back as far as the late 1990s, pushed the idea of enabling the aggregation of widely-dispersed viewing audiences, allowing programming to thrive that might not be successful on any local station, much less on the national network. ( A locally produced TV show though having national relevance may not log in many viewers; for a wider platform like Internet, it can have a mass appeal, because of the sheer size of the people accessing the content).

Robert further writes:

My reasoning came down to the price differential between Internet bandwidth and intranet bandwidth, the latter being that bandwidth entirely within the ISPs local point of presence or data center. There is a lot more of this intranet bandwidth, for one thing. Depending on how their network is segmented, a local provider of cable Internet or DSL service may have gigabits of aggregate customer bandwidth attached to a much smaller Internet pipe. A 100-to-one ratio of internal to external bandwith is typical, meaning the effective cost of internal bandwidth is 100 times lower…The advantages of this strategy are profound. Bandwidth costs go away completely, which not only frees up money for more programming or better servers, it becomes much more practical to display video with larger frame sizes, faster frame rates, and higher resolutions, creating a better viewing experience.

What’s in this for the phone and cable companies is revenue sharing for advertising, as well as reducing demand on the ISP’s own Internet connection. They’ll understand instantly and see the revenue and cost-saving potential.

This means that a local cache of the content would serve the IPTV better. This seems to be BSNL’s strategy; the promised IBM servers would be installed by this month end.

This does open up the possibility to work around with the content, deliver the latest Rakhi Sawant videos to the consumers. No, none of the Techwhack guys are any big fans of Rakhi Sawant; though, I am sure there would be many eager beavers to lap her pelvic thrusts online. Porn, perhaps, would find itself here too. Time Shift TV may be a reality soon. For all those who missed the wardrobe malfunction in Bombay’s Fashion Mela, you can rewind it and view it as many times as you wish. Or Baba Ramdev may be crooning with Mallika Sherawat soon on your Yoga channel delivered via Internet.

This is the future I am talking of.

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