The rumored plans are here and a very interesting discussion in on in the forums.

I think that they have screwed it up given the fact that BSNL has upped the ante as far as tariffs are concerned. With the imminent launch of Airtel/ Vodafone and other private players, it remains to be seen how 3G market would shape up. I think that there is a going to be a big market for the data cards given the pathetic landline access.

Interestingly, here’s something from the Tata’s end user agreement:

Mobile internet is not to be used for other activities (e.g. using your handset as a modem, voice or video over the internet, peer to peer file sharing). Should you exceed your fair usage limit or such use be detected, TTSL reserves right to take action by restricting bandwidth, and/or suspension of data browsing and/ or temporarily suspend subscriber account in case of data usage in violation of fair usage policy.

Ha ha ha. For all practical purposes, I wonder whether they can actually “control tethering”!!

I wonder where did these assholes spring from!

This is taken from the forums:

I usually refrain from speculating on the price wars or report on the “latest trends” but to be honest, these people have screwed it up totally.

This is what I have been driving at. Get the mass of people to gang together and complain en masse. Only then these companies listen.

I am linking to an interesting story from BBC.This is related to the Android update from Vodafone. Any emphasis is mine.

Last week many customers who own HTC Desire smartphones were prompted to download a software update which they believed was an upgrade to Android.Instead it installed irremovable Vodafone-branded apps and bookmarks, including links to dating sites.

It was crapware from the world’s largest company. People got on line to vent their frustration and anger on it’s forums.

“What really really annoys me is that Vodafone think of themselves as one of the biggest mobile company’s in the world…. however they in one day have managed to annoy most of there customers by spoiling a brilliant phone.”, wrote one of the customers on the forums.

Finally as BBC reports,

Initially, Vodafone refused to back down saying that it customised phone software to “optimise customers’ experience”. However, after several days of complaints it has capitulated to its customer’s demands.

This has been an interesting decade for sure. If we were to keep this in retrospect, I would stared in wide eye wonder had I known that I would someday work on 1Mbps unlimited broadband. This has definitely come after a big fight but for sure, there has been a lot of resistance from entrenched lobbies to change.

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”