VoiP has not happened here in India. Plain vanilla voice calls rule the roost and contribute to the “bottom line”. VoIP would usher in cheaper and better voice calls as compared to the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).

Convergence isn’t happening either.IPTV was supposed to ‘revolutionize’ the viewing habits and patterns. Besides a handful of early stage adopters, there hasn’t been much of a headway in that. The early adopters are cribbing about high cost of access, the limited viewing choice and the so called “fair usage policies”.

We are slowly moving towards an inertia in reforms because till the time the commitment comes from the top, things are not going to change. The most lucrative segment of telecom industry is the scarce spectrum because it allows the people in charge to play God and bend rules to their whims and fancies.

So far, there has been no clear cut guidelines regarding the spectrum allocation nor the way 3G is to be rolled out. Underhand dealings have created havoc with the way we use our services; dealing with the established oligopolies.

I am cynical about the way things have taken a turn and with the allocation of telecom portfolio to the same minister, the outlook seems worse for being stuck in the narrow band policy for times to come.

Another boring launch. Airtel wants to “differentiate” itself from the other providers by having a different format of watching channels. Thats about it.

You can follow the news as it happens on the forums or their official website which on expected lines is full of coding errors. I understand that they have invested a lot in the unified billing. I see no sight of the expected IPTV launch.

Its one thing to have the “stars coming home”- who happen to be beautiful people with some talent to be able to market themselves effectively. Apart from that, I see no real merit in having “brand ambassadors” in a crowded segment with the competitors burning equal amount of money to get a pie in your living room.

Sadly, the DTH has not matured enough here in India. Cant we get premium adult channels on the existing networks? Or there is too much of “content regulation”. We are a nation of billion people, but mention the word “sex” and there is a “smell of controversy”.

TRAI needs to learn its lessons fast.

I must admit that this blog is suffering from the neglect over the past few weeks. A lot is happening in the telecom sector; things are rapidly changing and shifting. The policy for 3G and IPTV has been announced. Multiple companies are making a beeline for the proposed 3G auction. Apple’s iPhone has been a hit with the people who can afford the fancy price tag.

Meanwhile, a lot has changed over the personal front too. I am engaged and looking forward to get married soon. This blog has been a constant companion over the past few years and given me a platform to vent out my ideas. I hope to nurture it; a challange to remain and stay focussed on shifts instead of reporting teeny weeny incident. Ultimately, it’s about you and me as the customer which matters the most. And we are on the recieving end. For all practical purposes.