Tags: Airtel

Spectrum policies in India

Economic Times has an excellent article on Spectrum policies. I did not elaborate, given the confusing nature of allegations and counter allegations. One this clear from all this. Litigation would not end and so would the confusion.

Frankly, 3G services are making a lot of noise on the world front. I became aware of the same, when I received a forwarded mail; India is being watched closely on the world front as regards to the roll out of the services; especially WiMax. I believe that it is the companies that have the direct stakes in the telecom scenario. For example, Ericsson supplies most of the telecom equipment; it would drag the European government in exerting the “diplomatic pressures”. All this is part of the game. Obviously, they too would be gung ho about the “millions waiting in the wings”. Hence the hoopla.

My intention is not to trash what has been achieved. Nor discount the low telecom rates (with more price cuts that can be sustained). It is the hypocrisy that really gets me. I abhor the guts of the corporates; fake billings and lousy customer services with pathetic end user usage. They back it up with “smiles and giving world class service” claims. There is a serious disconnect between the service levels and claims perse. Plus of course, the real threat of cartelization. It pays everyone to stick on with each other and edge out any new player.

In any case, there needs to be a free and frank discussion on where we are headed. At times, I feel demoralized trying to catch up with the dirty politics that these people play without being caught. For example, some insider source in Airtel claimed that they really give a raw deal to their dealers; often flogging them to work and dropping them when it is inconvenient for them to carry on with them. How much is true, is not known. Yet, these allegations for a company do not really go well with the images splashed in dailies. Or for that matter, Sunil Bharti getting the best telecom award for the best CEO. Oh, did he not claim that he is no longer involved running the Telecom business?

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