Ring Side view of Indian Telecom Circus
I thought I would post this interesting observation by a member of the India Broadband Forum. The user tried asking for support by sending an email.
But the message was not delivered coz apparently the support email id had no space left on the MTNL servers.
He ended up getting this message:
Recipient address: triband.helpdesk@ims-ms-daemon
Original address: triband.helpdesk@mtnl.net.in
Reason: Over quota
It’s been a uphill struggle to get the connection- they have delayed italmost 10 days even after the payment of the required dues. Very soon I might just venture to put out a survival guide- the ways not to suffer at it’s shoddy customer support.
I gather that Airtel is providing an excellent service in the fixed line telephony including broadband- while they may not be able to replicate the reach of BSNL(spreading their tentacles of misery so to say)- they are surely arriving at the scene- realising the gravity of the situation that mobile telephony business cannot provide them the same obscene profits that they were making a few years ago. Data services remain the bread and butter of the operators- I remain firmly of that opinion.
Meanwhile, Huawei has been in the thick with IB and RAW clamouring for details on the deals- those guys have surely been involved in espionage in Bangalore office in 2001. The details were in Times of India recently. How and why they are allowed in this country? I shall try and elaborate on the Chinese in the coming few days. Oh well, on a parting note, certain people were gloating about the new age sunrise of Chinese- the next wave of chinese goods swamping the technological market in telecom equipment- believe me, they have a lot to prove that their intentions are not at world domination by hook or crook.
That is for the reason why there is no irrational exuberance about the multinationals. This blog would try and “expose” the scum of this earth.
I use Airtel Broadband personally and am satisfied with it. However, a friend from Bangalore is quite frustrated because they have banned IRC access around his area. Yeah, he has tried contacting the support people who admits that the IRC is blocked and worse, the customer care people have only this to say to the complaints…
If you are not happy, feel free to leave us…
This is an actual statement from the representatives of the Airtel Broadband Customer Support! Arrogance in Bangalore IT Scenario? Quite disgusting I would say…
Dial-Up Users are the Biggest Sufferers in India
I am speaking on behalf of countless number of Internet users in the small towns of India. The people in the metros have enough to complain about the “broadband service providers” who do not deliver what has been paid upfront. Yet, a larger percentage belongs to the dial up subscribers who are often at the mercy of operators like BSNL.
I have been a subscriber of BSNL for as long as I can remember. The fact is that I never had any choice. Apart from high access charges (one of the highest in the world for dial up – Is TRAI listening?), the whole thing is bundled with lousy customer support. Admittedly, I have come far from the days when it took ages to connect on to the server wasting my calls in the process. Those days I had to use my connection like a sucker because I was afraid of having huge telephone bills. Repeated complaints to the “customer care centre” brought about no resolution and it was frustrating enough to bear the insults of some dead wit moron sitting at the other end.
Things changed slightly for the better when they introduced a telephone line for exclusive Internet usage. I jumped up on the same. The initial charges for my city were Rs.399/- per month. After about 2 months, they increased to Rs.499/- per month. When I enquired about the price increase in the commercial office, the clerk (one of the damned ubiquitous species in government offices) spoke as a matter of fact. He said that the corporation reserves the right to increase prices at its own whims and fancies. Later on, I realized that it has to do something with the number of exchange lines in the city. Yet, it remains by and large very expensive to surf, especially when I need to buy separate Internet packages.
The default Internet package comes with a measly 5 MB in box. Well, since it gives POP3 support, I really do not need the same. There is no provision to increase the in box space or choose any different aliases. For that, one has to depend on the web based email service providers. This in effect defeats the very purpose of a dial up based Internet, as it remains prohibitively expensive to surf or look up information.
Currently, there is no mechanism to ensure security in the service. Anyone can use any other subscriber’s details, which include user name and password. Unlike VSNL, which in its rare far sightedness, introduced crackblok security, which restricts the access number from a particular phone line, such facility is not available with BSNL.
Security is a major lacuna with BSNL.
Spam filtering at the server level is next to nil. In fact, I have been receiving much spam of late. I brought this to the notice of node in charge. His reply was simple. He said that in case I get spam, the best way to deal with it is to delete it. Ignorance is bliss in this country. Why do these ISP’s never ever bother to look in the genuine complaints of the subscribers and have some knowledgeable people hired; instead of poor vegetables?
In my city, a majority of subscribers had to surf on the normal telephone lines. This meant that for long we had to wait endlessly to either connect or buy Internet hourly packages. At times, the desired package was never in the stock and customers were forced to upgrade to expensive hourly packages. The unlimited dial up package was available for a whopping Rs.9000/-(it is still) and valid only for 6 months. Now for that kind of money I can buy a small telephone exchange for myself!
The user experience has been pathetic. There can never be a “Dial Up Blog” for BSNL because; much of the world has gone ahead in terms of broadband, or whatever “faster than dial up” version of access is. Still, I feel extremely frustrated that I am stuck up in a time warp, much because I am forced to deal with thoroughly incompetent idiots.
Ever since BSNL introduced Net-One in my city, there have been a large number of subscribers without having increase in the bandwidth. As a result the speeds tend to crawl down to a drag by midday and tend to improve marginally only during the night. There has been no resolution of the same despite my insistence that available bandwidth is not sufficient to handle the customers. The reason is that early mornings, the web access is decent enough. The response of the “engineer” was that they have mailed to the higher ups and it is a matter of time that action would be taken. Yes Sir, do you expect the bandwidth to fall from the sky? Why is that these people are so callous to do their duties? Why is that a higher up takes forever and ever to take a decision? You have to see them going on a strike in a flash when their demands are unmet. Well, that is another matter though. Yet, when it comes to delivery of services, most of them are comatose with no sense of duty towards their profession.
Realizing this early on, I was extremely happy to hear that VSNL had put up shop there. Since my number was restricted to 172xxx, I was surprised that VSNL was barred from my telephone. Howsoever I tried to contact VSNL customer Care, it was a frustrating response. I had to depend on HFCL Connect to provide me service in my area. Strange ways these people work out. Despite an assured customer, they refused to entertain any queries on my behalf. More on that later though.
Even if I want to complain to the “engineers” about the slow dial up speed, I cannot. Either their complaint number goes unanswered or the person at the other end cannot offer more than anything apart from assurances. Calling up the toll free number would only lead to more frustration since most of the complaints get resolved only on the working days. God forbid if the employees go on a flash strike. It is a possibility that cannot be ignored.
Given my own “proactive” approach, I complained to the top heads of BSNL. No one bothered to reply or at times the mail simply bounced back.
This is the state of affairs in the IT nation of the world where gross idiocies coexist with small islands of excellence. There have been enough problems with the telephone line too. Running after the lineman who would make himself scarce gave me enough insight in the working of this organization. There could be reason enough to sue the company for not providing adequate services, though I believe that this would have been a weak case. As far as I know, the company is responsible for providing connectivity. Quality of services be damned. The Internet is working as of now and this is what they wish to hear. Nothing more than that. So much for the user experiences.
In this backdrop, there is no way we as consumers could make our voice heard. It is a sad reflection of the time gone by when telephone was given out as a dole. Indian telecom revolution may be happening. Whatever the media might report the increase in numbers (which is a suspect anyway); those idiots fail to realize that quality of services has gone from bad to worse. Maybe I belong to “power users” who wish to have the services as I paid out for given to realization that my genuine complaints would be looked into. As someone said so recently, why do you complain so much Abhishek? This is India stupid.
Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL – BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others
This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.
Tata and the Missed Opportunity
Tata are one of the oldest business houses in this country. As the ad line went, “We Also Make Steel” encapsulated what Tata’s stood for. Hence, it gave them unparalleled advantage as far as brand name recall is concerned. Tata’s acquired Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL). Their foray in the GSM business was partnership with other operators branded as Idea Cellular. Tata is using its own brand name to market CDMA based telephones.
After acquiring VSNL way beyond its market price, some people had expressed surprise over the excess valuation done. I felt long time back that it was a prize catch. The main reason was that VSNL had painstakingly created infrastructure, which Tata’s did not have to do. Then came the acquisition of Tyco which again was a sick unit picked for a song. How they planned to leverage the same was a mystery to all. It soon became clear after they acquired Dishnet DSL and marketed the same as VSNL Broadband. It gave me some reason to cheer that broadband OPPORTUNITY may soon be knocking at my doorstep. Arguably, Tata has replicated the same model of business as Reliance did. From international gateways to bandwidth and bringing it on to the end user premises. It could be a perfect recipe for success, until Tata spoilt their own broth.
For long, they chose to concentrate in a few southern states. As the other players spread far and wide, Tata’s were surprisingly sleeping over the same. They would claim that they were in the process of consolidation. I doubt whether funds were a problem. Given Tata’s size, it could easily muster the resources it needed for expansion. It chose to sit back and wait.
Finally, it did launch in other circles at a breakneck speed. In the meantime, frustrated consumers started complaining about the lousy services. Or the lack of customer support which failed to resolve the complaints on a timely basis. Dishnet soon screwed up its market and brand name that it had created from a scratch. As I had mentioned earlier, Tata’s chose to rely on the existing infrastructure instead of creating their own. This could be interpreted as either sensible or foolishness.
Admittedly, Tata’s have chosen to concentrate mainly in the urban areas. It goes beyond reason to sniff around in the saturated markets. In any case, according to feedback I got in my city, they have not really been up to the mark. Of course, freebies like Internet or free phone for the first 3 months have not really enthused many subscribers. The only positive factor I see is the per second pulse. This means that usage can be tracked easily.
Internet remains a major problem with most of the operators. Tata’s have missed out the bus on that too. Perhaps they are still suffering from the hangover of acquiring VSNL as their subsidiary. What they got in addition to infrastructure was massive sloth and typical bureaucratic delays. My earlier post on the same amplifies the same. However, I fail to understand the logic behind having Saurav Ganguly as their mascot. How would he be able to sell the products given his own limited appeal? Another instance of lousy effort in marketing.
The only way to shake up the moribund state of affairs is getting aggressive on Data. For example, if it could offer unlimited Internet through its dial up mode. It could collaborate with BSNL to offer its broadband offering using BSNL’s local loop. I am not aware of what goes on in the background, yet given the size of Tata’s they could achieve that.
They ought not repeat the mistakes that they are doing in the mobile telephony segment. Namely fishing in saturated markets. It is absolutely asinine to try and lure away customers from established operators. This is because they do not have any real differentiator in services. The only hope for them is to tap the lucrative corporate market, but given the aggressiveness of Reliance in the same segment, it seems unlikely that they would be able to manage to do take a sizeable share. Plus, of course, a big question mark over their own network!
The best option seems to be capturing the market share in Dial up Internet especially in the small cities. One main reason why it could be winner there is that it owns its own gateways, thanks to VSNL acquisition. Yet seeing their efforts and halfhearted attempts to make any headway, it is like shooting their own foot. As I mentioned, it is the same hangover that refuses to change.
There have been enough snide remarks over their capabilities. Some said that they are best in making salt and they ought to stick on to that. My word of advice to the highly paid morons sitting high up. Until the time you are a volume player, any attempt to narrow your product offerings is suicidal. The same comparison can be drawn from the fast moving consumer goods. Hindustan Lever is having unparalleled reach thanks to its massive grass roots distribution and product offerings in almost every segment of the paying capacity of its patrons. “We Also Make Steel” should now be replaced by “We Also Make our Customers Happy”!
Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL – BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others
This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.
Eternal Wait for Decent Telecom
Last week I went to pay my bills for Internet phone taken from BSNL. It is the same argument I have to face repeatedly. As a customer, why do I have to suffer a lack of choice? I do feel cheated time and again. The worst is that I feel helpless each time. The telecom policy dreamt up a hope that we would be able to see a multitude of companies, each falling over each other to serve the customer who is a king. Bah. More than a pauper, I am reduced to nothing. Be it invasion of my privacy, getting those unsolicited calls or ignorant army of morons as customer support staff; I do not think so that I got what I actually deserve for my investment in the services.
The worst-case scenario is for broadband. This is indeed taking ever and ever to materialize. BSNL did launch its broadband. However, I am wary on their past record for customer care and the quality of the infrastructure. It is true that people have started complaining about the poor quality of broadband due to line disturbances. I have always maintained that it is easier to wake up a person from his deathbed than getting anything done out of the so-called customer care.
However, in advertisements I am promised the earth. Sachin Tendulkar has endorsed Airtel brand. How does he being featured in the same get me better quality of services? I remember when I was their customer couple of years back. My folks could not get through my number. Repeated complaints to the customer care made no change. Finally, I had to shoot a letter all the way to their head office. Belatedly after about a month, some dingbat chose to reply in the usual corporate tone. The same kind of language that they choose to advertise. World-class infrastructure? After much haggling and repeated calls, the fault was traced in their switch! So much for their intelligence. This gave me an insight in the way call centers worked. After making repeated calls, I was on friendly terms with some sensible people. Admittedly, not all are dumb. Some are bit more professional in their jobs. I have to know their problems and the way companies chose to deal with their customers. Dude, they said. Prepaid card? Forget it.
Internet remains a bugbear. I need Internet to keep myself abreast of what is the latest in my field. However, the high cost deters me to surf with peace of mind. If at times I am able to get a decent connection speed, the line drops in the middle of a download. Things have changed for the better in the past one year. Earlier it was a harrowing time to connect to the exchange. Often it took me a dedicated patience of about an hour or so before I chose to give up. What of the wasted calls? It profited BSNL in any case.
The other day I went to pay mobile phone bill for someone. I was astonished to see the various kinds of charges that they had levied. This was a GSM phone and the company had charged astronomically for roaming charges. It seemed strange that how can Reliance charge a pittance for the same. Having ones own network is imperative if you have to succeed in the telecom market. It also hinted at the way the GSM operators have ganged up to charge excessively from the customers. Any “arguments” with the bill collection agencies is futile.
The worst-case scenario is the invasion of privacy when GSM customers get unsolicited calls. There have been reports of people buying a brand new number and within a few hours, some moron is offering a credit card from a bank. This only exposes the fact the companies sell the numbers. In this case, they could have alerted the calling agency that the given number is activated. This is not a confirmed fact but it is possible, given the trend here in India. I would suggest that one should avoid handing out numbers in public places. Invariably it finds its way in the databases that can be had for a song.
I really wish that things improve. TRAI is supposed to be a regulator. Why hasn’t it stepped in and said that enough is enough? The recent Gartner report has mentioned that telecom has grown from strength to strength but the last mile connectivity remains pathetic. What of the last mile Sir? Come on in and you would realize that getting a telephone line from government provider is an exercise in patience. If you are willing to swallow your pride and ready to be insulted, well then you can have a look at what broadband means here. One thing that they were absolutely right about. The report mentions clearly that quality of services remains much to be desired. This is what I had mentioned in my earlier posts too.
Established players like Sify call their pathetic lines as broadband. With the absurd data limits of 300 MB, Airtel is offering the “lowest priced” broadband. 300 MB for what Mr.Mittal? Opening up my browser and closing it down? What possible Internet surfing could I do in 300 MB without you ripping me off in the process? Why be so absurd, guys?
I believe that it is the hangover of the past when the powers that be handed out favors because they wanted it to be that way. These people have created artificial scarcity when there is none. Plan a decent connection and sell the product. We customers are ready to pay for something good, Sir! Provided it is reasonably priced, assured services in the event of downtime and go that extra mile in ensuring that your customers remain happy. Does that take too much? Nope. It takes only a little effort on your behalf.
Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL – BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others
This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.
Airtel and Sunil Bharti Mittal – Untold Story
Sunil Bharti Mittal must be a happy man by now. Hailing from a small town in Punjab, Ludhiana, he has achieved in life what some people dream of. He was a push button telephone manufacturer until recently. It was the winds of change in the telecom sector, which really propelled him in the national limelight. However, Airtel has its own share of bloopers, which are clearly not in the public domain. I shall try and lay out a case as to why their practices are not in the national interest.
There was a cover page in Business World magazine recently whose title said “The man who gave up his network away”. It was clearly unprecedented step in the telecom sector anywhere in the world. Network is one thing that is sacrosanct to any owner. However, in a smart and clever move he did that which could fetch him a lot of savings. I am not going in the details of the dealings or the pros and cons. This is clearly a business move, which he knows best. My only concern is the overwhelming presence of the multinational corporations in the sector and such crucial as this one.
There are two main issues here. In my earlier post here, I had mentioned as to why FDI has not really changed the telecom scenario. More money for expansion invariably comes at the cost of risk to other operators. I shall go in that detail a little later. The overriding concern is the technology that would be used for the switches and telecom equipment. I read in Rediff article recently that low cost equipment is feasible as of now. If we talk of partnership between the academia and the industry, then this would have been a golden opportunity to reclaim our investments in IITs across the country. I am sure that spurred on by the demand they would have come out with some solution. Thus, save the precious foreign exchange. It is clear that overwhelming presence of the MNCs in the sector would clearly benefit their host nations. A poorly thought of strategy indeed, to increase the FDI.
The second crucial aspect is the security. I have a reason to believe that Singapore based companies are actually a front for the Chinese government. Thus, surreptitiously they are entering this sector. Why the mandarins sitting high up haven’t really thought of this at all? This is beyond any logical conclusion. I have opposed FDI on this very ground because these are ill prescribed prescriptions of the donor agencies. The so-called security measures announced were good enough to keep the Left shut up their mouths. Not that these people are not nationalists. The very idea or the foundation of their beliefs is flawed and outdated.
However, the biggest beneficiary has been Airtel after the increase in the FDI. They have realized, although belatedly, that value added services is the way to go. There was one major flaw in the roll out of the subscribers. To ramp up the numbers they concentrated mainly on the prepaid subscribers. The health of any telecom network is determined by the number of post-paid subscribers it has. To correct this they have started resorting to monopolistic tactics. The GPRS subscribers on the prepaid networks can only access the Airtel Live portal. In case they wish to download anything, a hefty charge of Rs 10 is charged per request. This is clearly anti competitive and goes against the established logic. Of course, a better way could have been to introduce a recharge voucher for a fixed monthly fee in case one wishes to access the GPRS and thence Internet. This forces the people to shift to post paid segment where the ownership costs are much higher.
Airtel has invested heavily in building up its brand. However, despite the greatest cricketer of our times, their advertising pitch does not enamor me. I believe that Airtel had consistently fallen behind the TRAI’s parameters in terms of quality of offerings barring a few circles. Hence, the newer ad pitches of “stronger and clearer” network.
The fixed line business is imperative for growth. As I had mentioned, increased funding would now mean that it needs to acquire operators with fixed line business. One that comes to my mind is Connect from HFCL in Punjab. After a relative lull in the roll out of services, it has suddenly woke up to ramp up subscribers. I was surprised to see their advertisement banners recently. Perhaps it could be because of entry of TATA in the Punjab circle. I have a feeling that HFCL wants to ramp up numbers and sell out. As it is, they have a lousy service and customer support in the after sales services. Airtel would want to pick up this stake for good because it does not make any business sense to duplicate the entire infrastructure. In any case, there is not room enough for another fixed line operator given the fact that Punjab has BSNL and Connect offering their services.
It is interesting to note the recent news that was reported in the media. On the announcement of the unified licensing regime, any operator who wanted to have a fixed line license was allowed to pay the migration fee. Airtel slapped a notice on the government asking it refund the same after the second round of policy changes were announced. It was clearly pointed out that fixed line license was voluntary. Airtel could have waited for the same or forego this amount. Is Mr. Bharti keeping his idle legal department busy? I am looking forward for the judgment.
Before I end this post, as the events have unfolded I have a hunch that Mr. Bharti would want to sell out his stake in Airtel. That explains his recent diversification in selling vegetables. It is clearly an untapped market and would go a long way to improve the best agricultural practices. I wish him all the best. The main reason is that despite all his ills, his was the first network that got the mobile network in India. How he pulled it off is another story.
