The Tata Telecom Story
In my earlier post on Tata Telecom, I was justified in criticizing Tata’s piecemeal approach to the nation wide roll out. Tata’s seem to the dark horse of the Telecom party, widely perceived to be “also ranâ€. I have always held the belief that Data is a major product differentiator in this segment. Wireless Internet is a big opportunity; TRAI has indicated that it would be opening up the spectrum for 3 G services. More than that, I feel that Tata needs to get aggressive on the WiMax roll out. If I am not mistaken, their existing infrastructure can be used.
I have always held that VSNL is among the best Dial up service providers; albeit with a screwed up priority and lack of cohesion in the marketing. Partly, apathy at the ground level and partly mismanagement of the resources. If Tata really control the leviathan, they seriously need to realize the potential of their gold mine.
VSNL is at the forefront of tie-ups and getting aggressive on corporate set up. Their tie up with Cable & Wireless is a pointer to this fact that corporate sector means more to them than the end retail customer. This has no meaning because again it is all about a few customers paying fancy prices; VOLUMES is the way to go. The “Dhaba Model†stands true. Frankly, that explains why Reliance has precisely chosen its strategy to communicate effectively at lowering the price barrier to own a mobile; their services are not elitist. Perhaps that’s the reason why they loose out on appeal to heavy spenders or those who swear by GSM.( Not to forget that the same customers are so happy to loose their hard earned money- it is not that Reliance are saints. It is the degree of rip off. Period)
Therefore, it is all about two things now. First and foremost is the price barrier. Secondly, get pushy about broadband and data. The more Tata’s delay their Metro Ethernet roll out; they would in fact be sounding their own end to Telecom party.
As an afterthought, does Telecom foray really matter to them at most? I mean, their core competency is Automobiles and steel. That would have served them better. Instead of sinking in money where there is no clear focus. Again, why have Sourav Ganguly model for them?
This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on Techwhack.
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June 15th, 2005 at 11:21 am
My experience with Tata Indicom has so far been harrowing. I applied for a broadband connection on 22nd April 2005 vide application number 1383163 and order number 61716. While I was being sold the connection I was told that it will take merely 7 days for the connection to become operational. Two days later I received a call from Tata Indicom whose purpose was to reconfirm receipt of m application and the verification of my address. The gentelman on the other side very kindly informed me that the minimum time required is 12 working days. Well, I said to myself, few days here and there does not really matter.
Alas! the few days turned into many days and then many weeks and now almost two months. The wait continues. One day in between two gentelment from the company came to my place to ostensibly install the connection. My father-in-law, who was at home at that time, received them. They then said that they will come back the next day to complete (?) the work. Till date they have neither bothered to come, call or do anything. Meanwhile, I have called the call centre on numerous occasions only to hear â??apologiesâ??, â??comprehensionâ?? and promises â??to escalate the problemâ?? to â??senior executivesâ??. I am still waitingâ?¦
Tata, a name once synomymous with reliability in India, appears to be slipping. They should realise that times have changed. It was easy in the yesteryears to appear professional and efficient compared with the largely lethargic and complacent public sector but in todayâ??s world of globalisation, hypercompetition and international benchmarking, the rules are different and the game definitely much tougher. Sooner they learn this lesson, the better. The consumer is no longer willing to wait for preposterously long periods for services. Testing customer pateince in todayâ??s world may not be a sound business idea!!
June 15th, 2005 at 12:51 am
My experience with Tata Indicom has so far been harrowing. I applied for a broadband connection on 22nd April 2005 vide application number 1383163 and order number 61716. While I was being sold the connection I was told that it will take merely 7 days for the connection to become operational. Two days later I received a call from Tata Indicom whose purpose was to reconfirm receipt of m application and the verification of my address. The gentelman on the other side very kindly informed me that the minimum time required is 12 working days. Well, I said to myself, few days here and there does not really matter.
Alas! the few days turned into many days and then many weeks and now almost two months. The wait continues. One day in between two gentelment from the company came to my place to ostensibly install the connection. My father-in-law, who was at home at that time, received them. They then said that they will come back the next day to complete (?) the work. Till date they have neither bothered to come, call or do anything. Meanwhile, I have called the call centre on numerous occasions only to hear â??apologiesâ??, â??comprehensionâ?? and promises â??to escalate the problemâ?? to â??senior executivesâ??. I am still waitingâ?¦
Tata, a name once synomymous with reliability in India, appears to be slipping. They should realise that times have changed. It was easy in the yesteryears to appear professional and efficient compared with the largely lethargic and complacent public sector but in todayâ??s world of globalisation, hypercompetition and international benchmarking, the rules are different and the game definitely much tougher. Sooner they learn this lesson, the better. The consumer is no longer willing to wait for preposterously long periods for services. Testing customer pateince in todayâ??s world may not be a sound business idea!!