This is in response to Tata Teleservices “executive” commenting on my blog on the previous post.

Dear Ms Sangeeta,

Thanks for not “influencing” my thoughts.

I understand that you work for the company that is part of the established oligopoly. I do accept your offer to show me a “demo” which in the real world conditions has no relevance per se.

A one time “burst” of speed or “lightening” fast downloads has no meaning unless your product throws up a consistent performance in real time. I should be aware of the customer service as well as the time taken for any complaint resolution. You should back it up with a responsive team to address the billing issues that may arise during the course of usage.

I find no indication that your Photon Plus would work on my Ubuntu Desktop since I don’t use Windows platform. Even if I have to get a demo, I have no clue whether it would work or not. Your company doesn’t bother to address the Linux users and I couldn’t find any information about the drivers that might be needed to “dial” in your network.

The average user has experienced speeds ranging from 3-70 kbps which is slower than a dial up. While this may depend on “various factors”, I don’t have reason to contest this claim. Reason is that it’s easier for you to claim the “network conditions” and if any one is signing up for the contract, then he/she is at your mercy.

The pre sales is usually very strong with a huge amount of advertisements and tall claims. The after sales, usually, drops to zilch. Nada. There is a resounding and deafening silence.

Interestingly, you chose to leave a comment; you should have emailed me your concern. But then, on a public forum, your company becomes the object of ridicule.

Last but not the least. What is the meaning of “fair usage policy” for “unlimited downloads”. Where the F*** has it come from? What is the meaning of unlimited downloads? If your company is charging a customer for the same, it is at the customers discretion to use the way he/she deems fit. If you feel that your network is liable to be “abused”, why not stick on to metered net access alone?

It is the “considered” decision of almost all the ISP’s to stick on to “fair usage” policies which flies in the face of fair access. Tomorrow, you would be happy to police the Internet to snoop on the websites a customer wishes, all in the name of state security! What gives you the moral right?

The spectrum is public property and you are just adding value to it. You don’t effectively own the spectrum in the sense that till the time your licensce expires, you are most welcome to make profits resulting thereof.

You too are most welcome to your opinion, hence.

Poor idiots! They had to sell to DoCoMo, a leader in the 3G services. With the policy as announced, the duds had it in them. They had to sell out to the highest bidder. Very soon, the whole landscape of the Indian telecom would change. We would not have homegrown company like Airtel but instead this would be a battle ground for the big global majors to fight it out for customers.

The size of the deal is pegged at $1.5 billion (about Rs 6,700 crore), translating into a $6-billion (Rs 26,000 crore) valuation for the company that runs networks across the country and is planning to expand into GSM mobile services in the near future. Tata Teleservices is a loss-making company. Between 2005 and 2007, its cumulative losses stood at Rs 5,604 crore

This India story has been done to death many a times. There is no real addition of the 8-9 million customers per month. It is simply not possible. Most of the metros have choked and jammed. It is saturated. In order to expand into tier B and tier C cities, telcos need funds and assured returns. For all practical purposes, I dont forsee the market “hot and happening”; although the 3G services would assure monetised returns and would ride on the value added services.

It is no secret that Tatas claim their superiority of services based on some abstract benchmarks. There are people who would swear to God not to ever think of Tatas as their service provider. Frankly, TRAI has been unable to implement its own customer friendly norms; trying to get anything out of the useless idiots manning the customer service is a herculean task in itself.

Tata is a weathered story. They have lost it and the writing on the wall is as clear as the sunlight illuminating the dark dungeons of their minds. Telecom is a failed venture and they ought to accept defeat and ship out of business.

I have no clue as to why the Indians are obessed about snapping up deals with South Africans. Although, it’s commendable when Indian companies snap up struggling European majors; the same that Tata did for Corus and Tetley Tea. Although, I still insist that it makes the worst cars on the road in the planet and I shudder to think about the imminent launch of Nano bringing about a nightmare on roads.

Minus all the hoopla, Tata announced that they had acquired a 30% stake in a South African firm called as Neotel. Big deal? It aims to consolidate it’s corporate offerings for video conferencing or data managed services, yada yada. I must admit that it suffers a total erosion of brand image among the retail customers as it has among the worst form of Internet access ever known to mankind.

A lesson for Ambanis? It pays nothing to get into shadow fighting for whatever amount of money you have. All in all you make a suckers of yourself and the fair name of your family.