Tags: Airtel, Reliance, Tata

Interesting developments on the Indian Telecom Scenario

As a “Broadband Reporter” and self styled as one, it becomes difficult to keep pace with the rapidly changing technology and updates. Here is the list of the interesting developments “in my opinion”. A company has developed Gigabit Broadband over the Natural Gas pipelines. More details here. Would this factor come to India? Well, I doubt so. With crumbling infrastructure, there is no hope yet.

Expansion is the buzzword here. Tata’s have realized, albeit belatedly that they need to get in the volume segment. I personally feel that they are the dark horse of Indian Telecom; a toddler who is trying to find its feet on ground. They are slowly getting there. Slowly but surely. Specially with the massive fund allocation that they have announced recently.

Reliance is getting active on its broadband services. They have announced a tie up with a management institute to offer virtual classrooms. This is part of well thought out strategy to offer value added services In the same vein, Connect from HFCL is going on an expansion spree setting up it’s Planet Connect showrooms across Chandigarh and perhaps Punjab. They are probably getting inspired from Reliance WebWorlds, which offer a host of services under one roof.

There is a mad scramble for value added services everywhere, especially when it is a money-spinner. Astrological services are a big hit across the networks. While this may detail the obsession with the planets, Telecom companies see the profits coming in big time. Perhaps there is no big differentiator there. I would not have chosen to highlight this link; on closer scrutiny, it seems to detail the various service providers with their rates. When it is cheaper to be talked in Media, why not? Frankly, no one really advertises in media regarding the same. Oh, did anyone say Paid media exposure? This has become my favorite term.

On to more serious matters. Spectrum allocation is a big tussle between the operators. 3G services have been advertised and promoted heavily through media creating a lot of hoopla. Obviously, TRAI’s Recommendations do not go well with the people who have lost out on the race. There would be a war of words and expect more litigation and certain breed of lawyers getting rich. There has been some sanity in this madness too. There has been a recommendation from TRAI to cut down the spectrum charges to 4%. Would the benefits of savings be passed on to consumers? Again, I have my doubts. Let TRAI engage itself in its fallacies.

Finally, Airtel received a setback when its appeal in the Supreme Court, for refund of the deposits, was turned down. One positive development indeed. If Airtel would have got its monies back, it would have opened floodgates of litigation. Migration to Unified Access was voluntary; it was clear as such. Perhaps, Bharti Group wanted to give a shot in the dark and try their luck.

Therefore, it appears, the Indian Telecom landscape is much like the moon. Beautiful and appealing from a distance but marked by huge ugly craters when one actually reaches there.

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