The entire article can be viewed here; although I don’t wish to skip over the juiciest parts (and something that I have always mentioned in this blog that is patently wrong with the auctions and the way it has been handled).

On First Come First Served Basis:

The Committee note that the First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) basis for the issue of Licences and Allocation of Spectrum has been followed by the Department on the argument that the announced UASL guidelines have made it open for new licences to be issued on continuous basis. The Committee’s scrutiny of the records reveal that in the Basic Service Licences guidelines, there is a reference to FCFS but nowhere in the UASL guidelines, the term FCFS has found a mention implying thereby it has no sanctity. In fact, on 24th November, 2003, the then Minister of Communications and IT had approved the Department’s proposal to give licence Spectrum on FCFS basis, but it was not codified in the UASL guidelines. Thus, there has been no such legally established principle as ‘FCFS’, at best it can be termed as a prescription to be followed for grant of licence/Spectrum…….

On Role of Media:

The Committee note that the brazen irregularities in the allotment of 2G spectrum and UAS licences were unravelled by some investigative journalists much before the Radia tapes came into the public domain. A journalist who played a stellar role in exposing the irregularities, on being asked about the sources of his information, replied that the information was collected through the RTIs and from some public-spirited insiders…..

Presumptive Loss:

….Intriguingly, neither the DoT nor the TRAI has quantified the precise loss. Unfortunately, the DoT instead of admitting an unconscionable act, advanced the plea that theoretical exercises based on economic modeling are fraught with simplistic assumptions and that no methodology can be suggested by them to calculate the loss…..The Committee feel that giving dual technology licence to the CDMA operators and new UAS licences in 2007-08 at a price determined in 2001 was not only imprudent but also smacks of a design.

Shortcomings in the Implementation aspect:

….While the first phase was implemented, the second phase was conveniently and intentionally, as subsequent events substantiate, overlooked. In the process, devising an efficient allocation formula for Spectrum alongwith an appropriate price remained unachieved as delinking the price of Spectrum from the issue of licences was given a go bye, disregarding the Cabinet decision. The Committee are deeply distressed that due to violation of the Cabinet decision and as a consequence of such deliberate omission, the issue of UAS license and allocation of Spectrum in 2007-08 at the price discovered in 2001 caused a staggering, but wholly avoidable, revenue loss…..

The Committee also desire that the price of Spectrum be delinked from the issue of licences without further delay and seek explanations as to why this important decision has not been implemented as yet…..

Role and Responsibility of TRAI:

The Committee note that the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are not binding upon the Central Government. But it is mandatory for the Government to seek recommendation of the TRAI in respect of matters pertaining to the need and timing for introduction of new service providers and terms and conditions of licence to a service provider. But the Committee are surprised to note that while seeking TRAI’s recommendation on 13 April, 2007 on various issues, the DoT did not seek recommendations on grant of new licences despite the mandatory requirement. Even though the decisions of the Government is final whether to accept or reject the TRAI’s recommendation, not seeking such recommendations at all speaks volumes for the DoTs malafide designs to circumvent the established provisions in the TRAI Act..

So now we know that TRAI basically is a useless toothless regulator.

But TRAI is not above all. So read the following:

Besides, the Committee find TRAI’s flip-flop in its recommendations also contributed towards the Department’s arbitrary and unilateral decisions. For example, in 2003 TRAI recommended that as the existing players have to improve the efficiency of utilization of Spectrum and if Government ensures availability of additional Spectrum, then within the existing licensing regime, they may introduce additional players through a multistage bidding process as was followed in the case of introduction of the fourth cellular operator.

The bad news:

One aspect that engages the attention of the Committee is the fact that worldwide, especially in the developed countries, the licensing and Spectrum related functions are actually performed by the Regulators and not by the Government unlike in India. The Committee consider such a practice as one of the main reasons for the DoT’s arbitrary decisions in dealing with the consultation process with the Authority.

The big players have engaged the Department of Telecom and the TRAI executives get exemplary post retirement benefits as fancy board members. Of course, they are there to liaise with the existing bureaucrats setting up huge questions on conflict of interests. I really don’t know whether these clauses are in built in their “rules” but if you look at the RTI applications to make their assets public, these faceless bastards need to be more accountable. Not all of them are like that but the blackest of the black sheep are bringing a huge shame to rest of the community.

Pathetic. Ours is totally a banana republic.

On 3G Spectrum (Which I personally feel has been “over-inflated”):

The Committee are happy to note that the auction of 3G Spectrum through an open and transparent bidding process has established the true value of the finite scare resource. However, as apprehension has been raised at many quarters that by paying such hefty amount to get 3G Spectrum, the successful bidders might pass on the burden to the consumers, the Committee impress upon the TRAI to keep a watch on the development in this regard and protect the interest of the consumer in tandem with the DoT.

Hope you are feeling bad enough by reading this sorry state of affairs.

Related articles

• ‘Raja manipulated Telecom Commission’ (hindu.com)
• National Spectrum Act proposed (hindu.com)
• 2G Spectrum .CAG Report. (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
• 2G-Criminal Conspiracy Charge against Essar,Reliance Communications? (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
• PAC draft report puts 2G loss at Rs.1.90 lakh crore (hindu.com)
• Charge sheet identical to CAG findings (hindu.com)
• Arun Shourie to appear before CBI on February 21 (hindu.com)
• US Highlights 2G Scam is Unhealthy For Indian Telecom Market (telecomjunction.wordpress.com)

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1) Smart phones and Android taking center stage with Nokia dying a slow death.

2) 2G spectrum scam

3) 3G mess.

There are tonnes of web sites scattered all around to tell you about Android’s home coming. I am not getting in the debate about what is good or bad but Apple (across the lines) remains aspirational because of it’s perceived value.

2G Spectrum scam has also been mentioned extensively with the political fall out affecting Congress and it’s cohorts; again the debate has been frittered away to be of any consequence.

3G Mess is bad. Really bad. Partly because it has been sold on lines of “only Internet access” you’d ever need. As mentioned in these columns (and comments) that none of the devices support advertised speeds of 21Mbps; more so, in absence of clear definition of what 3G speeds are, you would not really see much traction there. The operators have dreamt of fat profits accruing from the sales and perhaps are marketing different plans for mobile handsets and wireless modems. Docomo even explicitly prohibits “tethering” mobiles to laptops citing it as “violation of terms of use”; as it they can “prove it court of law”. Assholes.

4G is on the horizon and as such the media reports were peppered with what technology to choose. There are of course competing issues; I am not qualified enough to explain the merits/demerits of each.

Another highlight of this year was the final recognition of menace of telemarketing calls and sms (with sms rates being usurious and companies raking in huge profits from what is essentially free for them). I have written about it earlier but there are others in space who have written about it more extensively (Rajesh Jain on Telemarketing and SMS Spam[1,2,3,4,5])

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) would be a big issue in 2011. Although it has been launched in Haryana, there are not enough media reports about the impact of MNP on the same. Is it surprising? With telecom companies leading in advertisement spends, they hold enough leverage to influence reporting the issue. Hence I would remain blocked out on the same unless it becomes a major issue. However, they don’t give a shit to the users because there is no REAL choice between the service providers. Most of the new operators have yet not launched their operations (and hence got notices for the same) so it is difficult to comment on the same. I foresee a lot of activity in next year in terms of new players and mobile number portability to affect them. Yet, with the rise of cheap “chinese manufactured- Indian branded” hardware with dual and three SIM card slots, issues like MNP don’t hold much promise. Hence this too would remain a lot of hot air with some speculation towards “power to consumer”.

I have written extensively to TRAI, Department of Telecom and various stake holders in media about why need broadband and what is basic policy flaw in the system. This has also been a subject of my RTI applications being filed with them. At risk of sounding repetitive, we all need a proper system for growth of the nation and that is a foregone conclusion. However, the system is designed not to provide but to deprive the users from opportunities. If public good were at the heart of policy makers (and politicians), we would not have been a kangaroo republic (mistaken for a democracy).

I fail to understand the stupidity of media houses not to push for all inclusive growth in Broadband; since their own very future depends on it. I have briefly toyed with the idea of setting up a NGO; there is no scarcity of ideas that need to be implemented. What is lacking in this space is will to implement those ideas. The whole scenario is lumbering around like a giant iceberg. Yet as monotony in this space grows, Internet access is fuelled by explosive growth in social networking to Facebook’s data servers. Here in lies the rub. Media in India is even lacking in this space and focusing instead to try out experiments in their own walled microdomains expecting the advertisers to come on in hordes and expecting to rake in millions of dollars from advertising click throughs.

However, this dream lies shattered with corpses of media houses dotting the landscape instead. Content is supreme and while we retain the numero uno position for generating mountains of crap in terms of bollywood export, this has not found a “release” except from traditional channels of multiplexes and to some extent, DTH. Instead, we don’t have a Hulu or Netflix like player capitalizing on this aspect of delivery. 3g cannot do it. 4g cannot do it. Wifi perhaps. Broadband on wirelines- definitely.

This blog has also seen some write ups on the need to tone up internet exchanges, need for TRAI to jig up it’s broadband policy and a call for Public Internet cafes. Interestingly, we also saw NDTV’s programme on broadband which we linked on to and perhaps the first in a long long time coming in from mainstream media. TRAI did talk about “fair usage policy” although in context of telecom tariffs. Another highlight was my post on online education and something on cloud computing in respone to Chrome OS.

This, by and large, what I had written with some guest posts. I have already filed in RTI application with BSNL as listed and I am awaiting their response. My only aim to get to root on pricing on Broadband, the mess and perhaps get a better deal on it in the long run. The first step is perhaps to re-define broadband from it’s present definition. I am also planning to involve TRAI in this loop along with perhaps Department of Telecom and see how they differ. Although TRAI is the regulator, the real power lies with DoT. Yet, it is a blame game that they are likely to play. DoT would say that TRAI has to come up with regulations first. TRAI would say that DoT is the real boss and they have to come up with a “circular”. No one wants to work and consumer gets the fuck of his life.

I have seen the Indians from close quarters. They would suffer all the insults with great temerity and humbleness. Perhaps it is the servile attitude that is ingrained in their psyche. Neither we are going to see a good amount of activism to make the public institutions deliver nor are the companies going to make any efforts to tone up their services. It costs real money to keep up with after sales service which actually eats up the profits and hence customer service is perhaps the last of ideas on their minds.

This post by itself is a huge huge post in a long long time! Maybe perhaps, I have written about trends subconsciously which I feel would impact the telecom landscape in some way or the other. The market is not geared towards course correction but is littered with asymmetric information to disadvantage of consumers. Sadly proactive approaches, either at regulator level or mass media or even at consumer level is sorely lacking.

The new year is not going to change this scenario in any manner whatsoever.

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Submit it to the PIO and wait for the answer from them. I wonder what has been the reaction from their office after getting a detailed questionnaire. Lets wait for the answers (next year).

I am keeping my fingers crossed. My contention is that you make the top incumbent come clean on the prices which would help you to negotiate the prices with say Airtel. At least I would have a broad idea as to how the revenues are split, what are the issues that need to be sorted out and confront TRAI with the same to issue policy decisions (perhaps Department of Telecom too).

I think, all it needs is a simple will to do something instead of getting mired in the red tapism. I have already written to the DoT Secretary (R Chandrashekhar) but he has not replied so far. I am not even sure whether the email has landed in his inbox.

Some time later next year, if everything goes well, I might plan to meet him in person.

The idea is to get broadband liberated; so that at least I get the best value for my money. I’d rather have a functional DSL first for starters; fiber can wait for some time.

I was also surprised to see BSNL’s equivalent IPTV packages in their customer care. I am not sure how this would work out or what is the customer review. Although it is a good option for time shift TV but with bundled speeds of 256kbps, I am not eager to join them. With customer resolution at local BSNL exchange, I am not keen to run around to get my service fixed in case of any “issues”.

Lets keep our fingers crossed.

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Ignore Pranajoy Guha Thakurta’s tripe about “not being much a party to the 2G scam. He is some sort of a journalist and for all practical purposes a permanent fixture on NDTV. He is not expected to “rise up to the situation”

#barkhagate seems to be become a popular trending topic on Twitter. It can mean only one thing. Lots of anonymous idiots love to hate Barkha Dutt. At best, they can only vent their “anger” online. When it comes to standing up for the rights or out in voting, they would all scatter away.

For all practical purposes, Greatbong has a good write up on this loot. And all the more I agree with what he writes:

And so my friends it will continue, one wave of corruption followed by yet another larger wave, raising the shock threshold every time. Fire up your rage within 140 characters. Try make it funny and pray for re-tweets. Cause, honestly, that’s really all you can do.

Which by and large explains the current state of Indian populace. It does not matter whether it trends on Twitter or gets a mention in the mainstream media. Most of have become so callous with such oddities, that public memory is really short. Another day, another year, another scam and this too shall pass.

Which means that in this current fiasco, it would not be instructive to preach or lecture on the pathetic reach of broadband. This has also laid bare TRAI’s role as an ineffectual regulator. Easy isn’t it? Staff it with pathetic run of the mill assholes, feed them with public money and let them occasionally bark (for regulations). The real power stays in Department of Telecom and the whims and fancies of chosen few while they swindle the public money. The companies make hay while the sun shines and you as idiotic customers pay (or rather) subsidize for their “expenditure”. With media in the pocket , nothing gets mentioned or ‘intelligent submissions’ are ignored.

While we re-elect the same bastards back in power. Why the fuck don’t you even feel outraged at all this? Damnit.

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Amid demand for ouster of Telecom Minister A Raja on account of 2G spectrum allocation, former Telecom Secretary D S Mathur today said that his proposal for auctioning the radiowaves was ignored.

Raja has been claiming that he managed to break the cartel of telecom players and managed to give 2G spectrum to new players to bring in competition that resulted in massive growth in the sector, besides lowering of tariffs.

Anyway, like the famous (or infamous Common Wealth Games) controversy, this too would die a natural death.

What I wanted to highlight here was the quote in the mainstream press (and final admission by Government on paper) that there has been a cartel of powerful operators. Thats the reason why they ignore your complaints, firewall you from the higher ups and give you a middle finger. Thats the reason no one bothers; forums or no forums.

I see a lot of sissies and misguided idiots venting out their frustration but not willing to go out to that extra mile to screw the companies.

What prevents the Indians to get together and file a class action suit against them? What is that holds you to file multiple RTI applications with TRAI, Department of Telecom, BSNL and MTNL to uncover the true cost of telephony and force them to bring more transparency?

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NIXI either has to change, or it has to go.

NIXI is supposed to be a non-profit organization (that part I believe), however it allows ISPs to essentially charge each other tariffs of Rs25 per GB. At 1gbit/s, with an in:out ratio of 3:1 and utilization of 80% or so, this comes out to a total monthly bill of Rs44 lakh, or about Rs17/GB.

That’s a hell of a lot of coin, considering that 2 months of that could pay for a year’s supply of bandwidth to Singapore. Yes, a year (well, a single STM-1 @ 155mbit/s, anyway, but the cost still only works out to about Rs13/GB).

As you can imagine, if I, as an ISP, can save Rs4 PER GIGABYTE, I’m damn well going to,

otherwise I have to pass that on to you – the consumer.

Now, one question. Why in the hell am I paying more per GB for DOMESTIC traffic than I am for INTERNATIONAL traffic? It’s pretty ridiculous, if you ask me (and if you’re reading this, you probably are).

But it doesn’t have to be like this.

In our quest to establish Hayai and to ensure that we can provide the fastest speeds and best pings in India, we’ve had many companies come forward and ask if they can put their equipment in our data centre (hosting companies and game server companies, mostly) but I figure: why should they have to put in OUR DC? Granted, it does give some competitive advantage, but, users on ISPs which don’t offer the speeds that we do shouldn’t have to suffer.

The solution? A new peering exchange.

We thought about doing it alone, but then I was alerted to the existence of another person who wants to do it, which is good, since the regulations probably prohibit me (personally) holding all but a limited role in such a project. So, if we/they can get it all set up, get past the various hurdles and get other ISPs to peer with them, then all going well, EXPIN should replace NIXI.

Below, I have posted emails between myself and the person attempting to set up this project. (IN REVERSE ORDER) – Please read and discuss back at broadbandforum.in

———————————————————————————————————-

On 6/10/2010 00:21, EXPIN wrote:
> Hey,
>
> Absolutely correct. The price structure is not a problem. We could even start offering free FE ports and charge for only GE and TE ports. Just to get more small ISPs and get up the traffic levels.
>
> All we need is a colocation space, Equipment (Cisco 6500 switch, I can arrange), a 24/7 monitoring system / NOC (which I can fix here in Sweden to begin with) and contact with few techs in Mumbai who can do the physical connection work (could be anyone with the knowledge of how to connect cables to a switch). In short, I can arrange everything…. just need someone (or a board) in front to tacle the legal issue.
>
> We would really need a plan here now =)
>
>
> /EXPIN
>
> —– Original Message —–
> From: “Mathew Carley”
> To: “EXPIN”
> Cc: “HNS – Ripunjay”
> Sent: Tuesday, 5 October, 2010 1:03:13 PM
> Subject: Re: Expin IXP
>
> Hi,
>
> Part of the problem as I understand it is not necessarily government,
> it’s that it has to be able to monitor activities: unlike Sweden (well,
> Sweden doesn’t require it *as much* anyway). I’ve recently been dealing
> with peering in NZ and it’s fairly straightforward: NZ$1495 for a
> 1gbit/s port, no usage charges, buy another link if your usage
> constantly exceeds 75%.
>
> Unfortunately, the fact that peering has always been relatively
> cheap/straightforward has not contributed to cheaper broadband: in fact,
> over the years it has got steadily worse. When I left NZ 7 years ago, my
> domestic traffic was counted as 10% of my international traffic – in
> other words, if I used 10GB of domestic traffic, I would be charged for
> 1GB. The situation is now that domestic and international traffic is
> charged equally. This is largely due (unfortunately) to Telecom NZ
> pulling out of the major peering centres, rendering them more-or-less
> useless: out of the 1 million subscribers in NZ, 600k are Telecom, 250k
> are TelstraClear and 250k are shared between all other ISPs in the
> country – the number of ISPs which I estimate rivals India!
>
> Despite this, I think getting the smaller ISPs on-board in particular to
> allow relatively free traffic exchange would give some of those
> providers an advantage over the major players, most of whom have Fair
> Usage Policies (which, although a reasonable idea in principle, is not
> very consumer friendly in India). Frankly, if we can get past the legal
> hurdles, I don’t see why it shouldn’t work in India. We all know what
> the broadband situation is like – the major operators are running
> 100gbit/s international capacity for over 1 million IP addresses, yet
> NIXI is barely touching 15gbit/s. By contrast, FICIX is averaging
> 20gbit/s with far fewer broadband customers nationwide.
>
> I would be very interested in participating in an organization, and as I
> outlined in my previous mail, the price ranges offered here in NZ would
> be a reasonable starting point: 10mbit/s is $295 (~INR10k), 100mbit/s is
> $695 (~INR23k) and 1000mbit/s is $1495 (~INR50k). Of course, since the
> idea is to revolutionize, we could go all out and have 100mbit/s at
> INR10k, 1000mbit/s at INR25k and 10GigE at Rs100k – with the policy of
> not routing traffic through other ISPs international links.
>
> This could create a similar situation to that which is in the Ukraine:
> for something like US$6 a month I was able to purchase 1mbit/s unlimited
> (upgradeable) – which included 100mbit/s unlimited traffic within the
> Ukraine itself. For Ukrainian hosted content and mirrors, this meant a
> fairly awesome experience – but the idea here would be similar, and
> hopefully would encourage much more content to be hosted in India itself
> (instead of the USA) and even more services to be developed – being that
> you’re in Sweden, I’m sure you know what I mean, and as I had suggested
> in my previous email, I think that the costs involved in running a
> mirror like Sourceforge (requires 150mbit/s dedicated) is probably why
> India doesn’t have one. The situation is surely the same for many other
> organizations as you have also mentioned.
>
> As for how to proceed? Well what do you need? Off the top of my head, a
> NOC, funding or a sponsor (I guess?), *probably* a license (and we need
> to ensure that we remain on the right side of the laws and regulations -
> this is probably where it’s all getting stuck), equipment (I’m sure you
> know what you want to run already) and some people (most of who, if I
> understand correctly, MUST be Indian citizens/residents).
>
> Ripunjay has more experience in the industry than I personally do, I’m
> fairly confident he can give us an idea of what else would be needed to
> get such a project underway.
>
> Ripunjay: welcome your thoughts?
>
> -Mathew
>
>
>
> On 5/10/2010 22:40, EXPIN wrote:
>> Mathew,
>>
>> Everyone I met in India regarding the IXP project didn’t understand what it was. It took me hours to explain them only. The only person who understood this was the CEO of NIXI himself. The situation is indeed monopolistic as far as i understood. I guess the government does want full control over the internal traffic in India. One reason why the peering policy at NIXI is multilateral.
>>
>> I think your idea of getting more ISP directors in the board is good! That will put some muscles in the project at least if nothing else.
>>
>> We in Sweden are running a free IX platform (www.sthix.net) for operators. Works pretty well where all operators are helping with the equipment, colocation and so on. But that might not really work in India.
>>
>> The best would be to create an organisation of few Directors, Get the permission to setup the exchange and charge a very small fixed amount every month or anually for respective ports (FE, GE, TE). Have the possibility of both multilateral and bilateral peering arrangements, IPv6, multicast, etc. Even voice exchange in future (VOIP).
>>
>> I had a chat with some of the global networks who have their equipment in TATA facilities in Mumbai. Some of them are Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Akamai (Facebook) and many more who were very interested in peering! That way the local ISPs in India could peer away a lot of global traffic and reduce transit costs as NIXI does not allow non-licensees to connect and peer.
>>
>> This is also a very good opportunity to show this IX as a global IX and one of the biggest IX in Asia on the world map. A nice and clean way to reduce your bandwidth costs upto 60-70%. But it is pity that nobody understands the idea of it and what it could really result in =/ A total WIN-WIN solution for everbody from consumer to operator.
>>
>> The question is really how we proceed? =/
>> Because my arms are getting tired trying to reach the government for the permission.
>>
>>
>> /EXPIN
>>
>> —– Original Message —–
>> From: “Mathew Carley”
>> To: “EXPIN”
>> Cc: “HNS – Ripunjay”
>> Sent: Tuesday, 5 October, 2010 4:15:49 AM
>> Subject: Re: Expin IXP
>>
>> Mr Walia,
>>
>> Interestingly, I moved to India from Finland. I’m Kiwi by origin.
>>
>> I’m aware of some of the governmental limitations – I tend to get pretty stroppy with the government at least once a day.
>>
>> Someone at Tata or DoT is probably misunderstanding your intentions, but as I understand from the ISP license, licensed ISPs are allowed to privately peer relatively freely (maybe starting this thing is as “simple” as obtaining an ISP license from the DoT). The problem seems to be just that many ISPs don’t peer properly: ISPs that buy from Tata/VSNL peer with Tata and Tata resellers, ISPs that buy from Reliance/FLAG peer with Reliance and so on ad infinitum. It seems pretty stupid to me that the CEO of a non-profit non-governmental organization would be given the power to approve (or not) the opening of another IX – that would present a monopolistic situation.
>>
>> However, perhaps myself and Ripunjay might be able to help in some way – the main thing is getting ISPs on board. Being that Hayai is starting in Mumbai, we were planning to go to existing ISPs in Mumbai (Hayai, HNS, Fivenet, Nivyah, MTNL, Vashi Cable, TTML and various others: in fact, why couldn’t we approach each NIXI ISP member with this?) to offer them peering at next-to-nothing: 1 gbit/s port at maybe 1 lakh per month flat-rate or something to that effect, with similar policies to FICIX ( http://www.ficix.fi/english/newmember.php ) – in particular, paying attention to point #3.
>>
>> Considering that NIXI charges 3 lakhs a year plus Rs25 per GB (average price comes to ~ Rs17 per GB once you take in to account a 3:1 in/out ratio), but at 80% utilization this is still some 44 lakhs per month, however, despite this, knowing something about Indian mentality is that they will see 3 lakhs per year against 12 lakhs per year and choose the former. Ironically NIXI’s about page says “thereby resulting in better quality of service (reduced latency) and reduced bandwidth charges for ISPs by saving on International Bandwidth” – considering it’s almost the most expensive bandwidth in India, how can they possibly claim this?
>>
>> Due to this, this operation might even have to be done for nearly free if the ISPs were willing to supply equipment and pay an equal share for the premises, but this is a detail that would have to be worked out (in fact, I think MTNL and Railtel both have space in their respective facilities in Mumbai that might be ideally suited for the purpose).
>>
>> As well as simple peering in that IX, hosting mirrors of sites such as Sourceforge and housing Akamai boxes. If HNS got involved, they might consider moving speedtest.net and their Ubuntu mirrors too, who knows (not up to me, just planting seeds).
>>
>> If the legal hurdles can be overcome, there are some very significant possibilities that could arise from an IX with a more friendly tariff structure: who knows, perhaps NIXI and/or ISPs charging each other more than international rates would even see the error of their ways!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Mathew Carley
>> Director, Hayai Pvt Ltd.
>>

>>
>>
>> On 5/10/2010 08:02, EXPIN wrote:
>>
>> Hi Mathew,
>>
>> We are a bunch of scandinavian techs (indian origin) who wanted to setup an exchange in India due to NIXIs current structure (not helping at all).
>>
>> Problem we are facing is with the government. There is no proper law regarding the exchange point. And TATA (who were suppose to be our partner in this) is not allowing us to start this exchange without the permission from Department of Telecommunications.
>>
>> I’ve been to India twice now and also had meeting directly with the Minister of ITs secratary who forwarded me to the CEO of NIXI. I had meeting with him and the tech taking care of the NIXI platform. Seems that it is CEO of NIXI who can permit opening of another exchange in India.
>>
>> I’ve emailed them our proposal and all, but no answer from them in 6months now. I guess we do not know how to deal with the beaurocrats
>>
>> We might help each other open this project, but this requires a great contact circle in the government.
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> EXPIN
>>
>>
>> —– Original Message —–
>> From: “Mathew Carley”
>> To: “EXPIN”
>> Sent: Monday, 4 October, 2010 11:00:41 AM
>> Subject: Expin IXP
>>
>> To whom it may concern,
>>
>> Your contact details were given to me by Ripunjay from HNS with regards to setting up an IXP.
>>
>> I’m highly dissatisfied with NIXI and it’s tariff structure, which to me, does not make any sense and does not contribute well towards reducing the costs of domestic bandwidth or efficiency of routing as an IXP is supposed to do.
>>
>> As it is the aim of Hayai to be India’s fastest ISP, we too were considering the possibility of setting up our own exchange, basing our structure loosely on FICIX ( www.ficix.fi ), but once I found out about your project, I thought there might be some potential for us to work with your organization.
>>
>> Are you able to tell me more about Expin, details, tariffs, if you currently have any active peers, etc?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Mathew Carley
>> Director, Hayai Pvt Ltd.
>>

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TRAI releases it’s numbers from the industry proclamations; it has not thought to independently audit the claims. Neither does the Department of Telecom (or may be that I am unaware of any such publication in the mainstream media). I have criticized 3G on many occasions and I see no merit in sinking in huge amount of funds on a technology which would get outdated in rapidly evolving 4G standards. All the more, India missed a golden opportunity to set up it’s own standards for mobile telephony thus forcing the mobile operators to set up an ecosystem of not only the entire gamut of the telecom equipment but handsets also. It would have spurred on demand for quality and generated much better employment prospects than importing the crap dip shit that we are forced to put up with now.

No handset comes closer in terms of oomph and style; something of the likes of an Apple iPhone with it’s iTunes store. While it is profitable, something similar is next to impossible to find here in India- the market of apps is right there but there is no serviceable product.

Nokia has failed terribly; I am definitely impressed by the new layout of it’s Ovi Store but trying to find an app that works across all platforms is like looking for a needle in a haystack. To worsen the matters, the price quoted is in Euros. If any asshole from Nokia India is reading this, please understand that its not possible to pay in Euros here because THAT is NOT the national currency. Besides that, none of the applications are a must have. No wonder, the Finns are getting clobbered left right and centre; the market share has definitely slid down to 60% as per the estimates.

This brings me to the final question. If we dont really have apps or the snazzy and the jazzy handsets, what are we really fighting for? Why should 3G should really be auctioned?

If Internet connectivity is the SOLE criterion, then public Wifi’s should be set up. The Wifis should be free for access upto a certain speed limit; beyond that a price mechanism be set up for higher access speeds. Or broadband initiative be accelerated with the huge amount of Universal Service Obligation Fund (last heard it had swelled up to 18,000 crores). But well, since the lobby market exists in a big way, we can only hope.

For a better round up of the telecom scenario, please read an insightful write up on Knowledge@Wharton write up.

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Rajeev Srinivasan has a list of the write ups detailing this “scandal” of monumental proportions. It is rumored to be worth…hold your breath….22 billion dollars!

Imagine the kind of money, if invested in broadband or community Wifis would truly make us a “superpower” indeed!

I quote the relevant text (emphasis mine).

Documents available with The Pioneer show that Central Bureau of Investigation DIG Vineet Agarwal had on November 16, 2009, sought call detail records of Nira Radia from Director General of Income Tax (Investigation) Milap Jain. “It has been reliably learnt that certain middlemen, including one Ms Nira Radia of M/s Noesis Consultancy, were actively involved in the above-mentioned (spectrum scam) criminal conspiracy,” Agarwal’s letter to Jain, seeking the detailed call records, stated.

On November 20, 2009, as per Jain’s instructions, Joint Director of Income Tax Ashish Abrol provided the details of conversation between Radia and key players in the spectrum scam, including A Raja.

“There are some direct conversations between Ms Radia and the Telecom Minister. In some other conservations, Ms Radia boasts of having helped some of the telecom operators in their efforts to obtain licences/spectrums. Ms Radia has also been in regular touch with Shri Chandolia,” confirmed Abrol to the CBI. RK Chandolia was Raja’s private secretary during the time of spectrum allocation and has since been elevated as an economic adviser in the Department of Telecommunication.

Nira Radia is the person who is under scanner for lobbying in the Ministry of Telecom.

Radia is an NRI, who landed in India in early 2000 for some liaison work for aviation companies. Of the nine companies that benefited from the dubious spectrum allocation by Raja, the CBI found that four companies were “serviced” by Radia.

Highly-placed sources said the CBI was denied permission by top authorities to interrogate Radia even though the telephone intercepts clearly exposed her role in the scam, which cost an estimated Rs 1,00,000 crore to the exchequer. “There are some direct conversations between Ms Radia and the Telecom Minister. In some other conservations, Ms Radia boasts of having helped some of the telecom operators in their efforts to obtain licences/spectrums.

CBI is now probing the scam. But then, CBI has been used as an instrument to intimidate rather than be of any “benefit”.

The idea is to screw up the alliance partners and make them more amenable to persuasion in the electoral political compulsions. Everyone was AWARE of the “scam”, the likes of Swam Telecom (promoted by Anil Ambani) who made a windfall fortune and and Unitech which erstwhile had interests ONLY in real estate.

….real estate companies Swan and Unitech bagged the spectrum license at a throw away price and they off-loaded their shares at a whopping price to multi-national telecom giants. The Swan Telecom bagged the license for Rs.1537 crore for operating in 13 circles. Within months (September) it sold its 45 per cent of shares to Etisalat, the telecom giant in UAE for 900 million US dollars (Approximately Rs.4500 crore).

Similarly, the Unitech, another real estate company too entered into a bumper deal, without investing anything in telecom infrastructure. The company got license to operate in 22 circles for Rs.1651 crore. Within weeks, it sold 60 per cent shares for Rs.6120 crores to the Norwegian company Telenor, who is currently a major telecom player in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

More here.

This is just another media circus. Raja is just another player in the game. We are all suckers AS USUAL.

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Pioneer has been served a legal notice for it’s cover story. It was obvious.

A determined opposition is hell bent to extract maximum mileage out of it.

All the while poverty deaths are a norm. Our security and foreign policy is going for a toss. Damn.

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The asshole of the year undoubtedly goes to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. For their persistence in making inane rules, for sleeping on with the telecom lobbies, being roughshod by the Department of Telecom and I should question it’s very existence. Given the framework within which it operates, it could have easily questioned the authority of the “minister” in charge for bypassing and challenging it’s authority for everything. The imminent launch of mobile number portability was delayed; for very obvious reasons because the entrenched players have a greater say in the lobby or it must have been a part of the deal to allow new players while the mobile number portability could be delayed based on whims and fancies of established operators. We would never know the real reason but TRAI has been found wanting for lack of action.

As a regulator, it is naive to assume that it has “unprecedented powers”; on the contrary, it has not been able to exercise it’s own powers the way it should act on customers behalf. I remember the time when I had dragged Vodafone to the regulator and made it work. But the compliance reports were never made public. At the same time, it has given me valuable lessons in case I need to drag TRAI to act. The best way is to send them a notice while you complain to your telecom operator. Since most of the operators never respond even to repeated emails, it’s best to file a RTI application and know the status of the compliance reports filed by the operators- the nature of the complaint received from the customer, action taken report on the same and how the case was closed. It is a mandatory requirement but so far TRAI has not made anything public.

The wheels of justice churn slowly in this country. So does the thinking of the populace as well as the elected representatives. The idea is simple. To keep the population under duress, to ignore the idea for reforms and let the status quo remain unchanged. Or else, the Government which seems to “act” cannot really resort to extra judicial or extra constitutional ways and means.

In any case, this is the end of the calendar year 2009 and I do sign off with a heavy heart. The efforts in 2010 would be directed towards a bit of activism given the fact that there are untold academic pressures to “be up to it”

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To,
The Central Public Information Officer
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan,
Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Old Minto Road,
New Delhi-110 002
Tele: 011-23211622
Fax: 011-23213294

E-mail: ap@trai.gov.in

Sub: Application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 for information relating to Broadband Internet, Fair Usage Policies and pricing mechanism.

Dear Sir,

I am a citizen of India, and I request you to kindly provide me with the following information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 with regards to information relating to Broadband Internet, Fair Usage Policies and pricing mechanism.

1)Why the definition of “broadband” has been kept at 256kbps and not subject to revision for higher speeds? Is there a proposal to re-define the speed of broadband access? If yes, kindly provide the details of the file, notings and objections if any received from Internet Service Providers. The same to be provided in writing by way of certified photocopies.

2)What is the meaning of the term “unlimited internet”?

3)What is the meaning of the term FAIR USAGE POLICY? Has this been put up or suggested by TRAI? If yes, what is the basis for the introducing such a policy? Has the cross section of the user base been consulted before implementing such a policy?

4)Does fair usage policy violate any of the provisions of TRAI?

5)If it does, what action can be taken against errant Internet Service Provider?

6)Has any Internet Service Provider been ever penalised for violating for introducing “fair usage policy”?

7)Do the Internet Service Providers provide details to TRAI about their various broadband plans?

8)If yes, 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?

9) How has the tariff on unlimited broadband (1Mbps unlimited) being offered by Bharti Airtel fixed line been calculated?

I would be highly grateful if the above-mentioned information could be provided to me at my postal address within the statutory period of 30 days from the date of receipt of this application.

The requisite fee is being paid along with this application by way of postal order in favour of the accounts officer.

Should there be any additional fees chargeable as per the Act; the same may be communicated to me by e-mail or postal address with the required work up of the details as to how the increased charges are justified and how you have arrived at the calculation of the same.

Please rush the information to me by speed/registered post. If the information is not with you, please forward this application to appropriate PIO, under intimation to me. Please also provide me file notings and action taken report on this application along with your reply.

I sent them today with “Acknowledgement Due” from a post office with the requisite proof of having sent them the postal order. To my knowledge, they cannot feign ignorance; I would be following this up on a regular basis.

Here’s to the power of the people! I am bracing up for a big fight for sure.

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Dear Sir,

This refers to Shyam Ponnapa’s write up on BS dated 05/110/2009 (Managing Spectrum Efficiently).

The big question. Why do we need 3G? Why not focus on the land line business alone for broadband access? Or better still. Community Wifi?

The arguments for doing away with this are many. Community Wifi is deemed to be a security risk but then countries like Singapore have implemented this on a large scale nationwide. The mobile phones required to access 3G invariably have Wifi access too. Unless, the telecom companies are expecting surefire hits like Apple iPhones or flood of other smart phones to access the Internet, it is not happening.

We don’t have accurate numbers about the likes of Reliance and Tata who are offering their 3G access. If initial reports are to be believed, they are plagued by “line of sight” hassles, ‘network congestion’ and lackluster customer support. To top it all, it has the access limitations which means that broadband access, even on the 3G spectrum would be capped for very obvious reasons.

We have enough bandwidth in the country but as anyone would testify, we have problems in implementing the “last mile access”; having a contentious set of issues like 3G is not going to solve the persistent problem of “last mile access” because no one is interested in sinking money for a long term.

We can have a fair idea from the existing companies like Airtel or Vodafone who charge exorbitant rates under the present implementation of “mobile internet”. What is the guarantee that they would lower down the prices once they pay fancy sticker prices in 3G auction?

3G, would most likely be used for carrying more voice traffic because none of the players harbours any disillusionment about the “mobile broadband” across the length and breadth of the country.
The market for value added services is locked up within the “walled garden” of the existing players; it is unlikely that 3G access would “revolutionize” the content.

This pretty much sums up what I have always alluded here and my opposition to 3G remains.

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I have already documented that each operator needs to file a compliance report with TRAI every quarter including the action taken on the same. I had to push the company to act based on the threats sent as I insisted that they be made public using RTI. It was a “threat” alone which did the trick.

Further, the nodal officer and the appellate authority system doesn’t seem to be working because they are company officials. Even though it is mandated that all complaints be addressed in a time bound manner, it doesn’t happen so. What is the way out?

Department of Telecom is going through it’s own hassles with CBI raids in connection with the huge telecom scam related to auction of spectrum. I don’t foresee anything coming out of it (nor it’s worth reporting here) because it is just political arm twisting. Those officials are useless anyway; in that case, DoT is out of question.

That only leaves us with the option of TRAI and the idea that it needs to be more proactive in enforcing it’s own regulations. This calls for a concerted action against the errant officials because the companies are focused only on customer acquisition and not customer retention. Mobile number portability MIGHT change the service scenario a bit but I am being cynical about it because the exit and the entry barriers would be unfair to customers; unless the ensuing events prove me wrong. The charges for plan migration have yet not been defined; we as customers should demand a “pro-customer” outlook and not whims and fancies of fat cats dictating terms to both Government and Media.

On a happy note, the network coverage in my premises has vastly improved in all areas of building making it a hassle free experience. It took time and effort but it was worth it.

In the process, I learnt about the bad corporate ways too. And recounted it all here

Update (27/10/2009):
I got a call from the Vodafone Network people asking me to send across a mail of “appreciation” for the “good work” that they have done!!

I countered that by asking them to send across the details of their CEO so that I could cc to them as well! Strange kind of assholes indeed!

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What does it mean for an ordinary citizen like you and me? It means getting to know your rights and exercising them. I see a vast majority of people posting their negative experience with their telecom operators. Instead of bemoaning about their sorry fate, none of them are interested in pursuing the matter to a logical conclusion to have the matters sorted out.

RTI empowers the common citizen to know the state of affairs behind the closed doors. For example, if you are not getting your promised due of installation of a new telephone connection within stipulated time, then you can file RTI to know the status of your application. This is good enough to put the babu in spot if there is any delay in the implementation of the said order. You can file a RTI application if you are not satisfied about the functioning of your telephone number, know the number of the cell phone calls at the moment when you got disconnected and have it independently verified. You can know the make of the instruments, the technical details of the switching of the telephone calls etc etc.

I don’t guarantee any miracles. You can expect firewalling or even retribution from the said babu. But this should not deter anyone from seeking it. Because, it is your own money in form of taxes, that are being utilized and “misused”.

Further, the ambit of the RTI needs to be expanded on to the private players because as per the license norms, they are following the rules laid down by Department of Telecom and TRAI which are Government bodies and hence public office. The same rules need to be applied to them and Public Information Officers appointed for proper dissemination of information.

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It’s only going to benefit the dodos flashing their new gen Apple iPhones. Who needs a frigging wireless Internet which can work only in isolated pockets of the four metros? There are enough idiots rooting for the cause and I have a nagging feeling that the existing technologies have not been upgraded to benefit consumers instead. A big sloth, this industry relies on its own lethargy.

The auction is expected to fetch the existing Government crores of rupees which would be funneled in wasteful expenditure and of course line their own Swiss Bank accounts.

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This is a brilliant video to explain what Broadband can do. Strictly for dummies. Highly recommended for the morons in TRAI and Department of Telecom.

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I am opposed to the deal because it means that the telecom companies are entering the country via “brand tie ups”. What avoids AT&T or for that matter any other company buying undisclosed stock and shares and entering in the country in the name of brand building?

I have never liked the limeys and been always fearful of their intentions. This is reverse colonisation in the garb of globalisation. Instead of hailing this as the next big thing in Telecom industry, Tatas ought to be ashamed to have sold their “assets” for a fistful of pounds.

Virgin sucks. Their PR disasters are well known. They have not been able to issue a denial nor actively court the media. It wouldn’t be out of place to mention that unless they actively engage the bloggers (who are potential customers), they wouldn’t get their dues. Further, most of the Gen X generation would probably search Internet before they settle in for this service.

A company that cannot clarify it’s intentions before the launch cannot be relied on providing decent after sales service.

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It has been a fiasco. Tatas feel that they can roughshod over the existing laws and garner a share of suckers who feel that it’s cool to get paid for incoming calls. Bah! How naive can people get? I believe, that one has to pay something upfront to “activate this service”. In any case, this is only product differential they have in an increasingly crowded market. With the eminent launch of newer services, this segment of consumers would surely weigh in gimmicks like these to purchase.

Their offer of handsets sucks. Although, this is good news for those who swear by CDMA. Department of Telecom has referred this matter to TRAI to look in the legal aspects of having Virgin Mobile.

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I fired an email to their PR division. Their comments came in an attachment; not a good PR strategy in my opinion. They should have sent a seperate email or should have had a logo prominently displayed.

Here is the exact copy. My comments appear in italics in paranthesis.

1) Is Virgin a Mobile Virtual Network Operator independently acting in India?
Virgin Mobile services are being offered to consumers by Tata Teleservices through a brand franchise with the Virgin Group. This means that Virgin Mobile is a brand of Tata Teleservices. This brand franchise is within the permitted norms of license agreement of Tata Teleservices (Confused statements. Nevertheless, the supposed licence agreements have been invalidated by Department of Telecom in their wisdom. The email from the PR division came in before this happened).

2) Do you have a tie up with Tata Teleservices?

Virgin Mobile India is an equitable partnership (then what is the brand frachise?)between Virgin Group and Tata Teleservices. Virgin Mobile India will provide Tata Teleservices with experience and expertise in designing, marketing, and servicing Virgin Mobile branded products for the youth segment.

3) Who has designed your website?
Need inputs (Ha! They don’t know the name of their web designer!!! This has been prominently displayed on their home page. At first, I realised the futility of the question AFTER I had sent the email. However, even I was not prepared for their answer. Anyone with the right brains could have easily figured that out. Despite all the flash, it is choked of coding errors- a common refrain of most of the websites not designed to comply with web standards).

4) Why do you make service guarantees for network availability? Are you 100% sure that your network would not fail as compared to other service providers?
Virgin Mobile places huge importance on ensuring that we deliver a high quality service to customers. This philosophy pervades in everything that we do- quality of network, range of handsets, value added services on offer, customer care etc. We chose Tata Teleservices because we believe it has the best quality network in India (Who decides that?). According to published reports (where?), Tata Teleservices has the lowest dropped call rates and one of the lowest blocking rates in the industry(how?). This means that ‘Virgin Mobile’ branded customers will reliably be able to enjoy clear calls, a fast connection and low dropped-call rates(Low dropped call rates? Despite the network, customers would still experience call drops! Even though, they may be low by industry standards!!!).

5) Why did you choose to go ahead with Virgin?
Virgin brings extensive experience and expertise in targeting the youth market across 7 countries over the last 8 years. It is this experience, service innovation and ability to catch the pulse on the youth market that makes Virgin a perfect partner for our ‘youth’ brand.

All in all, it remains a perfect example of PR crap. Tata seriously needs a reality check. They have honest intentions; they need to tap the youth market. Their perception in the market is jaded and also ran; which is different from say Hutch. Most of the companies are aspiring for “youth tag” and hope that it would add “zing” to the company.

Why youth? They aspire for a better lifestyle and if a brand fits in their perceptions of being the “right one”, they would splurge on it. It remains true for the metros as well as the smaller towns and cities. However, Virgin Mobile would need massive advertising money to cause a “brand recall”, just like they have associated a dog with Hutch. For the same reason, having Shah Rukh Khan for Airtel has not worked well because he endorses many other brands. Further, Airtel’s marketing division is pits.

I feel that the PR divisions needs a better infusion of brains than the current crop of retards that presently infest them. They need to tone up their language primarily because flowery English doesnt work. Unless someone is looking at impressing some starry eyed nut.

By the way, their website designer is bcwebwise. It speaks very highly of it’s boss who is an ex journo and has ventured in web designing. It has jarring colours and as usual coding errors Not a very comforting thought to pay dollops of money to those who cant even ensure compliance to web standards.

Update: I got an email from their PR agency saying that the attachment was sent by mistake. They wanted to send a further email from their PR agency regarding the new development of licence norms. They wanted my telephone number in order to speak to me and clarify issues.

Incidentally, Virgin India came with front page advertisement on 10/03/2008 in Delhi edition of Times of India. They are paying the customers to recieve incoming calls. In my opinion, this is basically a gimmick to lure in customers initally; their call rates are almost similar as that of other operators.

I shall keep this post updated as and when newer developments happen.

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In any case, it would make perfect business sense to cartelise because any fall in the prices would affect all the players together. The new players lack the required experience in rolling out services barring a few established players. Who would pay for the cost of advertisements, getting clearances from local authorites, setting up towers, ordering telecom equipment and the works. I believe that it would be introduction with bundled handsets and in order to survive in the metros, the new companies would play their “better network” card. The value added services are a passe’. Anyone with enough balls and brains would pimp for wireless internet and invest wisely in walled portals; imagine the convenience to shop from your handset and pay via SMS. It would require a generational shift in the way we live and work; nevertheless demand can be created and sustained.

Another wave of cheaper handsets would hit Indian shores. The much hyped Google’s initiative called as Android would pave way for better internet experience and with falling prices of smart phones, it would be an excellent platform for new handsets and better net applications.

I was surprised to see Reliance advertising for mobile blog applications. This is surely a brave thing to do; though their portal sucks. They can’t even get their web pages coded properly to conform to the standards. However, with steep prices per SMS, I wonder how many suckers would like to air their thoughts. I am sure that it would loose it’s steam soon. Or unless, Mr Money bags really wants to burn up huge pile of cash anyway advertising.

One burning question. Would the entry of new players really lower the prices? TRAI has mandated the phasing out the Access Deficit Charge payable to BSNL. In effect, that would make the calls cheaper if the existing players decide to pass on the benefits to the subscribers. I have my doubts about that because BSNL would go down fighting as the access deficit charge reflects in it’s annual profits; some MBAs (see I told you, I dont like them) conceal it as “earnings”. The new players would want to recoup their expenses and play the volume game. I doubt, really really doubt that the claimed 25paise for the local call would ever materialise. It’s like pulling out the rabbits from the hat and then claiming it’s magic.

Lets wait and watch.

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