Tags: Airtel, BSNL, MTNL, Reliance, Sify Broadband, Tata

Telecom Snippets from India

It seems to be a virtual war out now in the open with the various associations of telecom operators speaking through media rather than in the open. It seems that GSM majors are keen to paint themselves as the suffering party rather than accept the fact that they have lousy networks. Part of the reason is the GSM protocol that just does not really work. It not only uses up the scarce spectrum resources but inefficient too to roll out. I have no idea as to why people remain fascinated by GSM.

Anyway, GSM majors fear back entry by CDMA Operators with Reliance getting aggressive, it is matter of time when the bloodbath spills out in the corridors of power. Fact is that spectrum is a scarce resource and GSM majors need to hop on the untested 3 G hoopla. Partly I believe that the equipment manufacturers are goading these people on to shoot from their mouths that 3G in the in thing and the “next generation” mobile network; bringing world class infrastructure to India.

If I am not mistaken it is on the verge of being phased out. 3G services may remain also ran here. More on that later. Another news report says that Reliance wants to slash handset prices Expect a flurry of announcements. They have perfected the volume games and expect flurry of customer addition in the future. Way to go Reliance. Frankly, this is what is required for Indian market. They are planning to slash the handset prices to Rs 1300 and below. If and when that happens, they are going to see a massive influx of new customers from the rural areas. Wait and watch this space for more on that.

Idea Cellular cuts prepaid tariffs, which by in itself is good news for its subscribers. I still hold that there is a potential for further cut in the tariffs if and when the ADC component goes and perhaps the operators get “less greedy”.

Where is the truth behind the numbers? The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (formerly ABTO) claims that their subscriber base grew up by leaps and bounds Economic times that carried this focus again fails to justify as to on what basis these numbers have been calculated and how do they justify the number in “lakhs”. Is there any way out of this mess? Clearly, this is Paid for Media Exposure

Finally, BSNL is wising up to the threats of either being sold out or survival instincts in the jungle. It has announced plans to scale up the capacity by another 40 million lines. Hopefully they might consider better customer retention and increased focus on changing the mindsets. Frankly, BSNL is equated with a seedy office with a worse screwed up brand equity. They might consider bringing about a change too.

Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL - BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others

This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.