There seems to be nothing new around in the telecom arena. I was thinking of adding some links to the previous write ups here.

I had broken the news about the unlimited connections from BSNL. It took a long hard wait, a lot of exchange of the emails and huge efforts from the stake holders to push the sloth to make things happen. The news story was broken on 29th April; since then there has been nothing to cheer about really. I had given the media a BIG finger up theirs and still do. They dont deserve the attention that gets showered on them. It really frustrates me when they crow about the “emerging oppurtunities” when there are none really. I wish I could wring their necks in a real horrible manner.

I have grappled earlier with the idea of needing more speed than is currently being provided. 2 Mbps is here but at the rate it being offered for the limited download limits, it is a no brainer that would exhaust your accounts in no time. This reminds me that there has been no major revision of the pricing structure and its still a very very expensive affair to run the Broadband on your PC’s. This has been explained in terms of purchasing power parity(ppp) here.

Ever since TRAI had refused for the last mile unbundling, there has been practically no progress on the issue. I would want ONLY Indian ISP’s to come forward to claim the last mile. I would be horrified (for obvious reasons) if Chinese companies start clamouring for the last mile access. This is unfortunate because we are not seeing the real growth of the broadband applications or growth or even the applications designed to take advantage of the “higher speeds”; even though you would not piss on the modems. Its so bad.

BSNL is planning to roll out the WiMax (I think it already has some plans in Bangalore). I had earlier argued against the inclusion of such a technology and still do.

A series of articles appeared in Business Standard recently.

The first one talks of which talks of the TDSAT ruling and the impact on Indian ISP’s It “outlaws” the Virtual Private Network. I guess in ages TDSAT has rapped on the ISP’s knuckles. It says “As rightly contended by DoT, VPN was not allowed as part of ISP licence. Therefore it becomes a separate service. The quantum of entry fee and revenue share to be charged for a separate service would require recommendations of TRAI”.

Further it says,”ISP licensees who wish to provide VPN services may do so in terms of the guidelines only after paying the requisite entry fee and would pay annual licence fee subject to adjustments later in accordance with the final determination of entry and licence fee by the government”.

So we know now that ISP’s were indulging in illegal business. Expose!