…that if you remember my post on the shitty internet that Tata Indicom provides from its Walky, you’d probably do well to know this too. I  left Goa a long time ago and naturally I could not pay the November bill. So Tata Indicom billing tried to contact me. My phone was unreachable for a while one day and then they called up my mother in law and very offensively told her that I am a “defaulter” and that I need to be contacted immediately. My being bed-ridden and a promise that I will call back was obviously not their problem.

I called back Tata Indicom as soon as I was well enough to talk and asked what numbers and email IDs I have registered with them in case they need to contact me. The phone number given was mine, and the email ID was mine too. I checked my mail and the spam folder and saw that there was no mail from Tata. So I called the person who had called my mother in law. This Sanjeev fellow seemed rather arrogant, telling me that he has looked through my calling list and called a few other numbers before my mother in law was located and promised that I will call back. I asked him who had authorized him to look through my calling list, and he did not have an answer. I told him about my email ID and asked why I was not sent any mail before this kind of calls were made and he had no answer. I asked him if he knew the people and their relationships with me before he made the calls and got on the offensive and he had no answer. I asked him that if I lost a business contact because of his phone calls and his big fucking mouth calling me a defaulter after the multiple thousands I pay each month, would he provide a compensation, and he had no answer. I asked him if he knew his protocols for contacting a customer and all he said was “Sorry madam”.

Bullshit, you know. I have no idea how many people this incompetent ass has called and spoken to, and how Tata Indicom can actually let a bloody collections guy look through my calling list without first informing me over email about the pending bills (I mean I haven’t exactly given them my email ID for seasonal greetings, have I?). How can this bloke actually start calling people without knowing how I am related to them? This could be anyone…this could be my grocer, my banker or even my editor. I was just lucky it was someone from the family. And this bugger actually started to harass her with his darned offensive tone. How dare he?

I am going to pay their damn dues and surrender this phone line. I have had enough shit and insolence from Tata Indicom. I am paying through my nose and through my husband’s for this connection, and I expect some semblance of respect from them. If the people working there know neither their place nor their work, I don’t think I need to think even once more before moving to another service provider.

After all this, would you still want a Tata connection? Even with the DOCOMO jazz? Go ahead if the package excites you, but remember when you deal with them later, you will have only nightmares to deal with.

… Missed the count on the number of Cellular Phone operators in the City of Chennai. After Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Vodafone, Reliance (GSM & CDMA), Tata Indicom, Tata Docomo, Idea, MTS CDMA, now its Uninor a Joint Venture between Unitech & Telecom Norway.

One of their new showrooms coming up in the city …..

It is very easy to setup a wireless internet connection using your Reliance or Tata Indicom DataCard on your Ubuntu running PC. I’ve myself faced a lot of problems and finally here I am with a well-researched solution. I’ll try to simplify it as much as I can but it is not an easy job. Its going to be a little scary, but don’t lose hope and try finishing steps 1 to 6. Now start following the steps :

Step 1 : (Optional) I’ll strongly recommend you to upgrade your Ubuntu to latest Ubuntu 9.10. If you have not done it yet, I assure you that this will make your life much easier.

Step 2: Download the package ‘wvdial’. If you have an internet connection (may be DSL on ubuntu),  execute the following command :

sudo apt-get install wvdial

However, if you can’t connect your Ubuntu PC to internet for some reason then you’d have to install wvdial manually. This may take some of your time, patience and skill. Refer this article.

After you’ve downloaded and installed wvdial, tighten your seat-belts because its going to be a hell of a ride now!

Step 3 (Don’t Panic!): Now, plug in your Reliance or Tata Indicom data card into one of your USB slots.

TARGET : Determine the name of the port you connected it to. Seems easy, doesn’t it? You’ll see …

There are 3 ways to do that – (a),(b) and (c). Start with (a) and go to the next one only if the previous one fails.

(a) First one is quite easy and it should work. Execute the following command :

wvdialconf

If it says “wvdialconf” not found, then install it by executing the following command :

sudo apt-get install wvdialconf

Now, open your /etc/wvdial.conf file and edit the field Username and Password (Set it to your data card’s phone number – that should be your username and password. If its not, find out from whom you bought it ). You can use gedit to do this :

sudo gedit /etc/wvdial.conf

Now just execute the following command and your internet should be connected :

sudo wvdial

If you’re done, read the last paragraph of this post (just before the toubleshooting). However, If it doesn’t help, Try out the second way :

(b) Unplug your data card and plug it again, don’t connect anything else to any other USB port and type on the terminal :

sudo dmesg

This will take you to the last few lines of the huge list of your computer activities. In those last few lines, you should look for the device name something like /dev/ttyUSB0 . It may not be always USB0, it can be USB1, USB2, ACM0 etc.. depending on where you plugged the data card. If you see multiple different device names, then pick the one which has your Data Card’s vendor name in its description. Note the device name. If you’re successful, good job! The hardest part is over now . Jump to next step (Step 4) and if it fails, come back here and try out the next method, (c) :

(c) Ok, so if you’re reading this means even the 2nd method failed for you. Poor luck you’ve got I must say. But don’t lose hope, I think I have a solution for it too. There are few models which fail to even get detected by dmesg. So here’s the trick – Open your terminal and execute :

sudo lsusb

This will list all the USB devices connected to your laptop, like your mouse, touchpad, pendrive, etc. And you should look for some “unusual” device name (like ZTW, Huawai, etc ) , this should most probably be your modem. The unusual name of the device depends on the vendor who supplied it, and it is NOT Reliance as  Reliance only imports it from China,Korea,etc. All these modems are actually made outside India. So if you find that “unusual” name in some line, that entire line should look something like the following :

Bus 005 Device 009: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Note the numbers “12d1″ and “140b”. These are your vendor’s id and product id respectively.

NOTE : These numbers WILL NOT be exactly same for you. The above is just a sample. Note whatever numbers are there in your case and use your numbers in the following command inplace of the sample numbers. Now execute the following :

sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0×12d1 product=0×140b

Don’t forget to replace the “12d1″ and “140b” with whatever you got when you did “lsusb”, as I mentioned above.

Now, just repeat Step 3 (a). If it works, CONGRATS (and skip to the last paragraph of this post) )! If it doesn’t, keep reading ….

So agreed, yours is really a disaster case. Now this is the last weapon I’ve got, If even this one fails, then may your Ubuntu Wireless Internet dreams R.I.P. !

Execute the following :

sudo mknod /dev/ttyUSB0 c 188 0
sudo mknod /dev/ttyUSB1 c 188 1

Now goto Step 4 (the next step) and use either /dev/USB0 or /dev/USB1 in the Modem field. Yes, these are the port names you’ve been looking for. It is actually one of them, so try with both of them, one of them should work. If it doesn’t, then I’m unable to help you further.

Step 4: (a) If you have a Reliance modem, copy paste the following code into your wvdial.conf file (Remove all my comments within the brackets (..) ) :

[Dialer Defaults]
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Stupid Mode = 1
Modem Type = USB Modem
ISDN = 0
Phone = #777
New PPPD = yes
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0 (Write here the actual device address you found in previous step)
Username = 9xxxxxxxxxx (Your Username, should be your data card’s number aka MDN Number)
Password = 9xxxxxxxxxx (Your password , should be the same as username)
CBaud = 460800

Step 4 : (b) In case you have Tata Indicom, copy paste the following code (Remove all my comments within the brackets (..) ):

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0 (Write here the actual device address you found in step 4)
Init1 = ATZ
Phone = #777
Username = 9xxxxxxxxxx (Your Username, should be your data card’s number aka MDN Number)
Password = 9xxxxxxxxxx (Your password , should be the same as username)
New PPPD = yes
Stupid Mode = 1

Step 5: Open terminal and execute :

sudo wvdial

You should see a long list of arbit codes followed by some IPs. If you see the IPs then you are connected! Don’t close the terminal, or else you’ll get disconnected. To manually disconnect, just go to the terminal and press Ctrl+C.

I know what most of you are thinking at this stage- “Do I have to do this all over again everytime I want to connect ? “. Answer is “NO”. Next time you want to connect, just directly do the Step 5 i.e. execute “sudo wvdial” and its done!

Note : If you are using firefox, make sure that the “Offline Mode” option in Firefox File’s Menu is not selected. Otherwise, you can’t browse using firefox because firefox will still think you are offline.

Troubleshooting : If during any step, you got any kind of error (or you got nothing at all!), you can always drop by  a comment or an email and I’ll reply as soon as I can. By the way, if you got help from my post, consider subscribing to my blog.

Actress Kajol is advertising for Anchor White Toothpaste after doing various ads for brands like Whirlpool, Tata Indicom and Alpenlibe. 

You can check the video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX56r3L24ds

.

She will soon be seen with superstar Shah Rukh Khan in Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan which is scheduled to release in 2010.

 The actress alongwith husband Ajay Devgun will play a role  in animated film Toonpur Ka Superhero (2009)  by Kireet Khurana.

I have not been writing about the ongoing telecom wars because I was kind of waiting to see how actions-reactions play out and what track all the new and existing players take….

Today, this article is prompted by something that I saw while I was driving back home. Inoticed a large hoardng that announced “MTS launches 0.5p/sec for entire Karnataka on all networks” and I almost let out a whistle..wow, that is cheap and it takes the telecom wars to a new circle. Is this a desperate attempt of a new entrant with a large wherewithal in the global market, willing to rough it out for the sake of long term.

Tata Docomo focusses on “full value recharge” and Tata Indicom showcases its “digital clarity” in prime time advertisements, but both skirt the main issue in the air – lack of good network reach!

Airtel, in the meanwhile, launched its one second pulse and matched the competitors, after waiting for two months and losing its #1 status on per month new user additions. Vodafone, Idea and Reliance followed suit. I have to say this though, Reliance needs to stop blatant copying of ads and get creative. Their per second ads look exactly like Docomo’s minus the jazz. Tata Docomo as well as Tata Indicom, I must say, hats off to the creative team at Ulka and Lodestar Universal. But the networks need to execute on the hype – FAST. (Aside: Tata Docomo’s  friendship train ad by Ulka has no relevance. The tune is catchy and the picturization is good, but I fail to get the point…and I love the “digital clarity” ad campaign by Tata Indicom showcasing how the advanced network clarity conveys not only voice but the emotions behind it also…great work Lodestar)

BSNL was surprisingly proactive, launching the per second pulse offer just following the Tata Docomo splash! Not sure, how many takers it got. Somehow, their branding effort with insipid advertising and mishandling of the “first mover advantage of the 3G” has made them the laughing stock of the town, so not sure how many people jump at their offers anymore!

Well, to begin with, I need to admire the power of free markets. Without regulation the entire ecosystem has jumped on a bandwagon rolled by one player, that can be “visibly” beneficial to the customer. What’s next, then? Call for free and we will play ads every 30 secs while you speak? Any takers?

Economic Times has published Brand Equity’s Most Trusted Brands. Colgate for the fourth year in a row topped the list. The first ten positions in the list looks like this

1.Colgate
2.Vicks
3.Lux
4.Nokia
5.Britannia
6.Dettol
7.Lifebuoy
8.Pepsodent
9.Pond’s
10.Tata Tea

The top ten service brands are
1.LIC
2.Airtel
3.State Bank of India
4.Reliance India Mobile
5.BSNL
6.Tata Indicom
7.Indian oil
8.ICICI Bank
9.Bank of India
10.Reliance Petroleum

Cheers

Most Trusted Brands: India 2007

Economic Times’ Brand Equity has published the list of India’s Most Trusted Brands Survey findings today.
The top ten brands are

1. Nokia
2. Colgate
3. Tata Salt
4. Pepsodent
5. Ponds
6. Lux
7. Britannia
8. Dettol
9. Lifebuoy
10. Vicks

This year, Nokia displaced Colgate to gain the top slot. Nokia is riding on the explosive telecom growth that India is now witnessing. The focus on quality and features has made Nokia a brand that Indian consumers love. The brand was able to bring in successful models regularly. Currently the N series has been the poster boy in its portfolio. Along with the models, the brand also has been investing in building the brand equity. The result of the survey also throws an interesting lesson. Recently Nokia faced the issue of ” overheating of battery”. Around 46 mn BL-5C series batteries was recalled by Nokia worldwide . Marketers feared that this recall will have a negative impact on Nokia’s brand equity. But this survey proved that Indian consumers have been impressed by the commitment of Nokia in the Indian market.

The current results has been a disappointment for Colgate which topped the list for the past 4 years. But I feel that the brand lost the position not because of any loss of trust but because the mobile telecom category have seen a huge growth and was the top- of -the- mind category for consumers. Colgate still leads the toothpaste category but will have a reason to worry because Pepsodent has moved to the No.4 slot from the No.8 slot.

The top ten service brands are

1. LIC
2. Airtel
3. State Bank of India
4. Reliance Mobile
5. BSNL
6. Tata Indicom
7. Indian Oil
8. Hutch/Vodafone
9. ICICI Bank
10. Bank of India

The huge success of the first post in the series ‘Social Media Presence of Indian Telecom Majors-Facebook presence’ has excited us infinitely. So, as promised we are coming out with the second post in the series.

Twitter as explained in Plain English was meant to just tell “What are you doing?”. But the marketeres saw the Gold in it. It got used a publishing service and took the marketing world by a storm.

So, Today the microreviews team set out to find how the Indian Telecom Majors are utilizing this service. Microreviews team has already reported in one of its posts how the Indian IT major Infosys Technology closed a deal on Twitter.

So, Let us not waste anymore time and start off.

Airtel: Yes, Twitter is now available exclusively on Airtel. But, really even at Rs. 1 per sms, tweeting from a mobile phone for those who donot want to use Mobile Internet Browsing is quite expensive. Twitter on Airtel is news, but is Airtel not being on Twitter not a news? Surprisingly, Airtel India is not available on Twitter. On searching twitter account for Airtel India, all we got were the accounts for Airtel’s calling card service, Airtel Champions League and Airtel Kerala. The twitter account of Airtel’s calling card service seems quite decent, engaging and answering people to some extent. But, over the neglect shown by Airtel India in using Twitter as a customer engagement and feedback service is appalling. Either, Airtel has missed the fact that India is already amongst the top 10 twitter using country or they they think that only NRI’s use internet.

Vodafone: Vodafone outside India seems to have taken all the right moves as far as social media goes. Vodafone’s Twitter presence and customer engegment in U.K, New Zeland, Netherland etc is brillaint. They seem to be answering every query which a follower and a possibly a customer has. Zoozoos and Vodafone complaints have a twitter presence too, which for me is brilliant. Vodafone India has however not started anything appreciable on Twitter. They have a Twitter account and that is the end of the story. Going byVodafone’s Twitter presence internationally, I do expect Vodafone to come up with a much more innovative Twitter campaign.

Tata Docomo: Tata Docomo has been a complete Social Media child to say the least. If their facebook presence was good, their twitter presence is better. They seem to have put their best foot forward answering their followers, their customers. This for example is their answer to one of their customers. With over 2000 followers and brilliant usage of hashtags and other twitter terminologies, Tata Docomo seems to be leading the Indian telecom majors in innovative twitter marketing too.

Tata Indicom: Unlike Tata Docomo, which comes from the same TTSL group of companies, Tata Indicom’s twitter presence seems next to NULL.

Virgin Mobile India: Virgin Mobile internationally has done very well engaging people and answering them on Twitter. Virgin Mobile India also seems to have started tweeting but effective usage of Twitter from their side is still a far say. Their simply do not seem to be doing two way communication on twitter as of now. One way communication on twitter is as good as none, atleast for a corporate.

Reliance Communications: RelianceGSM seems to have a one way communicating twitter presence which is far from what is expected from a company which hires Hrithik Roshan as their Brand Ambassador (spends enough to target youth). Their neglection of facebook and now twitter says a story in itself.

Idea cellular: There is an account by the name Idea Cellular but I seriously doubt if it is their official account. A company which targets youth was expected to be more active on Twitter for sure.

Aircel India: Another Indian telecom major which is trying to create a customer base but has neglected the possibility of doing the same through Twitter.

Having gone through the the twitter presence of the Indian telecom majors, Tata Docomo seems to be the only one which is using the medium effectively. I do not know exactly how the service quality of these telecom majors compare in India and if Tata Docomo does listen to user feedback (we will come out with a post on that very soon). But the Microreviews team has not been too impressed with the twitter usage of Indian Telecom majors.

For social media help, I would recommend people to get in touch with Aditya Prakash and Prasaad K S on twitter.

You can also email them here and here.

The Indian Telecommunication Industry is considered one of the most competitive as well as most marketed industries in the world. Cheap rates and brilliant advertisement campaigns have become synonymous to Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Docomo.

So, with all this in mind Microreviews set out to check the social media (the in thing as they say) presence of the major telecom players in India.

Let us start with Facebook.

• Bharti Airtel : There are apparently three or four facebook pages which Airtel has. One of these has around 10000 fans which is a big number by Indian Social Media standards. The page seems to have quite a few details of the offers coming out and stuff but doesn’t seem well maintained at all. The display image is of a person, who I really don’t know and I expected to see the Airtel Logo at the place of that pic. Going to the information section gives you a shock. It is apparently the page of Airtel Srilanka. The other pages of Airtel India also fail to impress and can be found here. Coming to facebook groups of Airtel now, they seem to be dominated by Airtel Srilanka again. The facebook group of Airtel Srilanka can be seen here and here. Both seem quite active. However, when I apparently go in for the Airtel India’s facebook group, they have got their website wrongly stated as http://www.airtel.co.in . It suddenly seems that this facebook group does not belong to Airtel at all. There are a couple of other groups, which may or may not belong to Airtel and can be seen here. I did find out a facebook game by name Airtel Special 5 and did not feel like taking it. Airtel Srilanka, overall seems to be doing better than Airtel India as far as facebook presence goes.

• Vodafone India: Internationally, Vodafone seems to be very active on facebook trying to engage users on the medium. Their Facebook pages can be seen here. Vodafone India’s page however seems a baby in comparison to their international counterparts but seems quite well maintained. However, the information provided in their info tab doesn’t seem to provide information about their social media presence elsewhere. Coming to the groups for Vodafone India. There is this one group which is again not well maintained and needs to be looked after better. Going by Vodafone’s social media awareness abroad, I do expect Vodafone India to take this up very quickly and get Vodafone India’s facebook presence to count. Zoozoos, in the meanwhile seem to have a decent facebook presence which can be seen here.

• Tata Docomo: Tata Docomo seems to have changed the rules of the games as far as social media presence of India goes. Their only facebook page seems every bit complete with everything presented in the best possible way. The facebook page seems professionally handled engaging the right kind of people. With over 1700 fans, lots of pics and videos, they seem to be engaging the people very well. Their info tab has provided information about all the social media presence they have elsewhere which is what it is supposed to do. There is no such group for Tata Docomo and to be honest, you need a good page and your job is done.

• Tata Indicom: Tata Indicom’s facebook presence can be considered negligible with less than 10 members in their groups and pages.

• Virgin Mobile India: Internationally, Virgin Mobile’s facebook presence can be considered decent. However, when we look at their India presence, there is a lot of hope.

• Reliance Communications: For a company of the volume of Reliance communications, their facebook presence can be considered a big NULL. Either, they seem to have completely neglected a medium as big as Facebook or they think Traditional media is doing the job for them.

• Idea Cellular: Idea Cellular has always been known as a major spender on youth influencing activities spending a lot on sponsoring College Fest, Youth Festivals etc. However, their almost non-presence on facebook left me in surprise. They have recently launched a facebook application which shows their entry into facebook in a big way. There is however, still some work to be done as far as Idea’s facebook presence goes.

• Aircel India : Aircel’s facebook presence can be considered as another near NULL and leaves a lot to be desired.

Having gone through the Facebook presence of the marketing savvy Indian telecom majors who spend millions hiring brand ambassadors and putting up expensive hoardings, it is easy to say that they have been quite negligent of the power of Facebook as a major engagement medium. Tata Docomo seems to have done a very decent job at it and other need to learn quick.

This was the first in series of the articles which covers the social media presence of the Indian Telecom majors. Look out for the next in the series in which we cover other social mediums.

For social media help, I would recommend people to get in touch with Aditya Prakash and Prasaad K S. You can also email them here and here.

I’ve gotta admit, I am impressed with Tata Indicom. They come up with the most useful (to rural consumers) app partnerships.

Thanks to the “Financial Inclusion through Mobile Phones” seminar I attended (organised by IAMAI), I met up with the product director for Impetus. Impetus is a mobile/ Internet app firm based out of Indore, and has had several innovative apps out in the market.

They were the first ones to launch “Mythology” on mobiles. The “Gayatri Mantra” ringtone they have has had 20 million downloads from diff operator portals, and is the most popular one in India. Besides that, they have apps for the iPhone as well.

But the interesting (to this space here) was the rural app called “Mandi Bhav” which works with Tata Indicom. Mandi Bhav has a BREW, J2ME, IVR version. It can be downloaded from the operator portal and has a specific interface it works on- it’s not SMS based. It also has an IVR version which farmers who can’t read can use. It already comes in 8-9 Indian languages, and that is independent of the mobile one may have, i.e. even if the hardware doesn’t support different languages, the software ensures a display.

What Mandi Bhav does is this:

• Get content of prices (min & max) in a local wholesale market (mandi) for a day. This is done with the help of the local people network of Impetus
• The application loads and gives these details to farmers who can then determine which mandi to go to. Mostly these mandis are within a 3-5 km range, and thus it makes sense for the farmer to get this info early on.

From the impact perspective, I didn’t have actual number details, but from what I heard, the application is doing really well in Gujarat, where farmers tend to have a stronger business sense, and are more aware of the app itself. Currently Tata runs this app in 24 Indian states.

Impetus says, that generic low awareness levels is what needs to be worked at to improve adoption of Mandi Bhav.

I think from language, to literacy onwards to usability, the app seems to have gotten all the basics right. Amazing stuff, and about awareness, I really don’t understand why companies aka Tata in this case, can’t push their marketing on this cool stuff more?

©Upasna Kakroo, 2009

Preliminary review:

I migrated from Tata Indicom Wired broadband service to Tata Indicom Wimax in Mahim area of Mumbai (Plan Power On and On 6-384 prepaid to [plan yet to be finalized])

Cost of installation – NIL

The transfer was a smooth process and apart from external installation of the antenna, it wasnt much time consuming thing.

Please note that Wimax doesnt mean free of all cables. The only cable that goes is the one that comes from Tata to your building. Instead, a receiver is installed on your terrace and it goes into a device which Tata provides you. Then a wire from that device comes out which goes into your computer (a wifi router can be installed so that the wire coming out of the device connects to the router)

Speed:
There is hardly any noticeable difference in the speed between the wired broadband service and the Wimax.

Update: Using Belkin wireless router N150. Installation was very easy. Just had to connect the cable to the router and thats it……

Update – 13th November, 2009:
The connection is performing flawlessly and I haven’t faced any issues (except for some minor disconnection on 2 occasions which was sorted out on the call itself). The rains did not affect the performance at all.

The call center remains easily accessible and the representatives seem to have upto-date knowledge.

I will definitely recommend Tata Indicom Wimax connection for people in Mahim, Mumbai.

Even as the GSM arm of Tata’s experiments with the per second billing model in India in partnership with Docomo, the CDMA arm, Tata Indicom, has launched a innovative plan of “Per Call” based billing in local networks. This is a revolutionary concept and could probably be a last ditch effort on the part of Tata Indicom to increase its shrinking customer base.

However, the problem of signal non-availability plauges both the Tata networks alike and as I have mentioned in a couple of blogs earlier too, just decreasing the price for a call is not a sufficient enough reason for most consumers to switch. These marketing tactics without a long term focus on improving signal reach will only win them a transient customer base, at best. Connectivity in today’s world is assumed to be ubiquitious and when consumers want to reach each other in a timely manner they will not put up with nice sounding “not reachable” messages.

If you are thinking about getting a Tata Indicom connection to get to the internet, don’t even think about it. I took a connection some three years back at a rental of 1730, which was way too expensive anyway. But I had had no choice then, and couldn’t afford to wait the entire span that BSNL said it would take to give me the broadband connection. And ever since I have regretted taking the connection. There is not one day that the internet has not acted up. To download anything above 500kb my connection takes well over 15 minutes. In addition, on most days there is a server issue, or some other issue that refuses to get solved. Customer care executives are either never available or plain ignorant about their work. Or insolent as hell. You feel like whacking their heads with the same phone.

Then there is the phone itself. In one year, the battery of the Walky became unusable without the AC adaptor. The antenna fell off, the earpiece refused to work. Calls were dropped randomly. Buttons refused to work now and then. The handset never catches enough network. The only solution the call center execs can offer is, “Madam please switch off your phone and then switch it on again. Otherwise please call back, I will take down your complaint.” If you tell them that you have already done the on-off thing, they will still ask you to do it again, and then the whole shenanigan of “Ji Main so and so bol raha hoon, main aap ki kis prakar sahayata kar sakta hoom?” begins without the least amount of sahayata involved. If you are not comfortable with Hindi, god help you, because most these executives do not speak any English. If you are South Indian, forget it.

To think that I pay through my nose for this connection is a downright kick on my arse. At 1730 a month, I get internet for 15 days a month, at a promised speed of 115.2 kbps and at a real download speed ranging from 50 B/s to 7 Kbps. I cannot download files that are 10 mb big, or relay on a continuous download because I know the internet connection will break in 10 mins max. I switch on my computer every morning, connect to the internet and then go brush and make breakfast because I know it will be a good 15 mins before any page opens. Or that when I come back there will be a Page Load Error. Yet, I cannot afford to wait for BSNL’s waiting period for broadband, because I need to work and keep in touch with the world, so I have to continue using this bloodsucker of a connection and its completely disgusting service.

Worse, I have to endure the absolutely insolent customer care executives such as the Jitender or something I just spoke to. I refuse to call him a him, so the it was the most disgusting thing I have come across in some time now. You know those slimeballs with their sugary sweet voices and a sing-song manner of speaking like they are doing you a favour and makin it obvious? The sort that makes you think of a reptile? This thing was one of them.

Would you still go for a Tata Indicom net connection? I know I wouldn’t.

Acche Lal Bhaiya (he won’t get offended even, he’s from UP) is a talkative, worldly wise 10th pass from a village near Ayodhya (famous ). He works in my school. And he’s been working there from the time I was in 2nd standard, so yes- long time (ago). He wakes up at the break of dawn on an off day (this last Saturday) too. I had been pestering him to talk with me, and he decided to come home at this sharp unearthly hour of 7:57am on my holiday- which probably caught me off guard. However, my lack of preparation was soon mitigated by the sheer verbosity he displayed, and eventually got me all hooked.

Born on 11-7-1971 according to his marksheet ( ghar wale ne pata nahin kitna umar hi likha diya ho. Marksheet mein yahi likha tha. 7-8 saal mein padhne gaya hoga, ek saal toh aise hi gaya hoga kacche baniyaan mein ), Acche Lal came to NOIDA in 1988 to work, following the footsteps of his dad who had been in NOIDA since 1977. As a duty-bound elder son (a younger sister, brother back home) he packed his dad off to retirement, and into agriculture in 1990. Dad, younger brother now are into vegetable farming and selling.

Acche Lal Bhaiyya looks better clean-shaven

Acche Lal currently owns a Tata Indicom- Haier (his second) handset. It cost him Rs. 799+300 (SIM inclusive) with a lifetime validity (2021 tak abhi toh bahut door hai pata nahin duniya rehti hai ki jaati hai). With his experience, Tata Indicom has anywhere connectivity though initially he would get a lower signal at his place. He called up the customer care and threatened to return the set, when he was told the signal was going to improve. Post that, it’s been “catching the tower”.

The average monthly spend is ~Rs 400-500 and with his prepaid card, he recharges it intermittently in denominations of Rs. 50/ 100 etc. from local mobile/ retail shops. However, if he’s on roaming and in his hometown, the charges shoot upto Rs 600. He’ll well aware that a Tata to Tata call is Rs. 0.50 and Tata to any other mobile is Rs 1. Also during roaming everything is Rs. 1.50. Tata to Tata also means that, he’s now converted a lot of his friend circle (10-12 of them) into Tata users. A Rs. 60 card gives 150 min talk time. Within friends he says there’s a lot of talk. 30 mins – 15 mins baat chalti rehti hai. The reason why he even got a Tata in the first place was as his friend suggested this, and he could buy the phone and the SIM package in under Rs. 1000. All others seemed expensive. Also, he feels Nokia battery dies down too soon (as he’s seen with his co-workers in school). On his current phone he needs to charge the battery once in three days. Interestingly, he knows Nokia, Hutch (SIM) & Tata Indicom, but doesn’t have any brand know-how or recall of Haier (the current manufacturer). Now, he’s planning to buy a new (Tata) phone. When asked for whom, he almost dismisses me by saying “Yeh toh pakadne wali baat ho gayi, ab yeh bhi batana padega”- clearly I should’ve known for his wife .

Asked about how he uses the phone, it seems to be primarily an easy way to communicate with his family back in the village. Additionally, in school, if there’s an emergency and he needs to find a teacher, he can call them up quickly, and find them.

Ghar se baat cheet karne ke liye, PCO calling takes Rs. 2-4, and standing in a queue, hisab kitaab faltu ka, and one month it took him Rs. 400. With the mobile can speak anytime (subah shaam roz). Main bada ladka hoon pitaji ka, bhai kaha par ho, hello-hi karke fikr nahin hai. 50 ph aaye ek din jab fever hua, yahan se telephone hua, wahan se telephone hua. Ghar par koi beemar tha, maine kaha pehle phone par dekh lo agar blood chahiye toh hi aaonga. Isse mujh ko araam hai, koi dikat nahin, koi tension nahin.

Apart from voice calls, he also listens to FM radio on the phone. Asked about messages, he says he gets a message everytime with the balance left- as and when he makes a call. Unfortunately though, they’re in English which he can’t read.

Amongst the pain points, he says there are two major points: 1) STD/ Roaming rates are not going down 2) he gets messages in English, and not in Hindi. His earlier phone infact had Hindi settings, this new one doesn’t seem to have those. However, even with that, he doesn’t want to change the provider or the phone, as he feels the network is good.

Card bhi kai jagah nahin milte , aur baakiyon ki tarah suvidha bhi nahin hai par yeh tower pakadta hai. Reeva mein pahad mein bhi tower pakada. Vishwanath ke paas Hutch tha uska tower nahin pakada.

Before we end though, I ask him for a picture, and he is cross with me that I’m taking a picture in his non-shaven avatar which makes him look like he’s from a dehaat (village). And that’s not all that great, since in his words: “Gaon walon ke paas thoda buddhi kam hoti hai”. He also taunts me saying, he could’ve done this interview over his mobile phone (it couldn’t have cost more than Rs. 10). I try to convince him saying how much more can be achieved in a face to face conversation. Not sure if I convinced him, cos “Aajkal kaam zyada hai aur time kam. “

My mother is sitting there listening to us. As Acche Lal Bhaiyya goes away, she grudgingly (almost) says, he knows everything, and might just know even more. Everyone seems to be grumbling in the end . But then, suddenly mom quips, oh India’s shinning! I really would need to go to some real dehaat now to find people who don’t know anything about mobiles. And that, is mighty good!

PS: He earns Rs. 10,000-12,000 a month, and owns his house- 2 more years before the loans gets over. All sentences in Italics are attributed to Acche Lal, they were far too much fun to be left out !

©Upasna Kakroo, 2009

Easy way to Earn on SMS

For past 2 months, due to one reason or the other the broad-band connection to our house has been shot! So i have been using multiple alternatives to get on line. We have one connection from Tata Indicom, and another EV-DO access device from the BSNL. I have been using both on and off for my desktop as well as my laptop. Here is what i have noticed over past 2 months.

Tata Indicom
This is a so-so service. The speeds are not all that great. Not that i expect speeds in Mbps, but i do expect a few hundred kbps, but that is not what i usually get. The maximum sustained speeds that i see are about 5 – 6 kBps (please note the b and B). But at least it works, even if it is very slow.

BSNL
This i bought about an year ago, when i was facing similar problems due to road constructions. Well I got it working under linux quite easily. During initial months it worked great. I used to get sustained download speeds of about 60 kB/s. I was happy with it. After a while i loaned it to a friend. He has been using it for number of months. He has had a very good experience about it. However, when i tried it today on the Desktop and the laptop, the speeds were poor-to-non-existent. That came as a shock to me. I hope this is temporary or it is because of the way our apartments are constructed that the signal is poor.

Conclusions
If you want guranteed connectivity, I think Tata Indicom would be your bet, but otherwise BSNL EV-DO is very good.

Update:
Important missed point. I just realized that i am also using the Idea GPRS connection. I can now conclusively say that speed-wise, this EDGE based network works out to be the best, better than the 3G BSNL and the Tata Indicom. I am amazed at the observation myself, but that is what it is!!

I was told once that the tone of a post is determined by its end. I have to admit as of now, while I might want to keep the tone(s) neutral or objective, I probably will refrain from doing so. Because, no matter the beginning or the end- there are people that you speak with who make you feel fabulous purely as they have this thing about their work.

I finally got to speak with Mr Santosh Jain, who works as a rural innovator*. His firm has created the Nano Ganesh which I wrote about earlier here. While, like a true ‘impact’ student, I kept asking him how ‘well’ the Nano Ganesh has done, especially with the Tata Indicom partnership.  And then, I got a little insight into Nano Ganesh not being a Tata Indicom product, as a random Google search may make you believe. It was infact started in 2003 – the first version- which was hefty. Following this a superior and smaller ‘Nano’ version was made, released in 2007 in Pune and around Maharashtra. Till now, about 5000+ units have been sold, and that covers about 15,000 farmers. Amongst other things, it meant- no operator dependency- bonus points for that!

Mr. Jain had an interesting anecdote to share about how the idea came about. He was very convinced that a company/ person can work with the rural populace for two reasons- 1) either you’ve got to be passionate about it 2) or, you’ve got to be from the village to know what works and what doesn’t. I wouldn’t say this was some ‘new’ knowledge, cos internally I think we all know it. But it’s always interesting to hear it from people who’ve been there, done that. Note to self- Key success factor ? Well, yes.

Mr Jain’s ajoba (grandfather) as he chatted away in Marathi (mental note: thank COEP for forcing me to learn the language ) was a farmer. And that probably pushed him towards the rural settings. He recollected having spoken to a farmer once who used to travel 3-4kms to a water tank. And on being asked why he does that, the farmer thought a while, and replied,- ‘cos that’s how it is’. And that’s striking, cos as Mr. Jain observed, till one does not understand the real needs and thoughts, its impossible to create something adoption-worthy.

One question he’s faced with almost everyday is- ‘Why not create something exclusive for an operator’ – to which his simple answer is that no operators can cover the 50million target farmer populace , and thus why should he limit his products to 15-20% of the target?- which is what one operator may be able to cater for at best.  The partnership however is extremely beneficial for the operator on several accounts- 1) Ready to work app targeted at rural segments 2) Ability to sell 2 SIMs – even with lifetime validity and gain a ‘household’ of mobile consumers 3) Free CSR/ good branding opportunity. For Nano Ganesh, there’s gain too- nation wide installation opportunities, for one!

The farmers have been skeptical about things like 1) Maintenance of the Nano Ganesh unit 2) How does it help really- probably even inertia. Mr. Jain did quote a place 20kms from Pune, where people had to use a horse to move around! So, places far into the interiors in India and across the world, would probably be worse off.  Mr. Jain thus said one had to justify how much of fuel could be saved by just have a remotely controlled device. It also resonated with my Jhansi visit in 2007, where the guy from Tarahaat said to the villagers it was important to show ‘how you’re making them save’, cos for them 3-4 kms didn’t matter. That’s the way it had been.

Nano Ganesh’s challenge to the world of marketeers and telecom operators thus is, will you keep up your promise and come help us after we buy your unit, and live a fair bit away from your city? Will you travel our horses and reach us? Will you make efforts to listen to our stories?

* Also innovating a remote controlled water tank device, which can potentially be placed in Gram Panchayats and save water wastage

©Upasna Kakroo, 2009

Tata Teleservices today said it would commit a vapid measure of Re1 for localised calls and Rs3 for long distance calls, disregarding of the quantify victimized, ushering in a new pricing program and forthwith decorous the utility of deciding for couples in long-distance relationships. The plan is state offered on the telco’s CDMA meshing Tata Indicom and is currently visible only for pre-paid plans.

The new project marks a impressive agitate in airtime pricing, in validness gift unqualified tell quantify.

The displace comes presently after the dual-technology telco launched the pay-per-second thought on its GSM assistance Tata Docomo. GSM (International Grouping for Ambulatory Subject) and CDMA (Code Conference Binary Access) are competing medium standards.

In India’s cost sore telecom marketplace, we conceive much a idea, with a eager view proposition, testament conclude umpteen takers. Contestant dual-technology telco Certainty Bailiwick, which, in previous eld gained industry deal competing on value, is near foreordained to originate up with an equivalent counsel.

Telecom major Tata Indicom on Tuesday launched a ‘pay per call’ plan for its pre-paid subscribers, in which subscribers will have to

pay fixed charge on a per-call basis both for local and STD usage, regardless of the call duration.

“Our pre-paid subscribers will pay a fixed charge of Re 1 per local call and Rs 3 for STD calls for unlimited duration, said MD of Tata Teleservices Anil Sardana while launching the new tariff system. Tata Indicom operates CDMA-based mobile services in the country and has a customer base of 40 million subscribers.

The new tariff system, which will intensify the rate war, is valid on all calls made by Tata Indicom subscribers to “any mobile phone

or landline connection on any network”, said a statement issued by Tata. The new offer has also cut SMS charges to 50 paise per SMS for both local and national messages.

The service is available to all new Tata Indicom connections and existing customers can adopt the offer with a one-time recharge of Rs 96. The statement said, all subscribers who opt for it will be charged a daily fee of Re 1 to avail the option.

However, the new tariff will not be available to the post paid subscribers. The company may introduce it for the post paid customers also after assessing its success among the pre-paid customers.

COO of NCR region of Tata Teleservices Vineet Bhatia said, “The product is the result of research and studies to understand consumer trends and usage patterns.” He added customers who opt for this plan will no longer have to worry about the cost every minute of a call. “Also, the fact that this offer is for both local and STD calls makes it unique, something that holds the potential to completely redefine the Indian telecom pricing paradigm,” he said.

Courtesy:- Times Of India

After so many operators, one more in the fray in Chennai. And i heard this is not the last of them, and a few more to launch soon.

Idea Cellular launched in Chennai. Unlike Tata Docomo, these guys are treading the usual path of “walk while talking” and similar celebrity endorsements (here Shriya Saran).

Wait and watch till MNP (mobile number portability) …..

From http://www.medianama.com/2009/08/223-deutsche-telekom-eyes-indian-isp-space-devas-multimedia-looks-to-raise-funds/ on August 24, 2009

By Preethi J

German telecom conglomerate Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile in USA, is planning to join the Internet Service Provider arena in India. According to a MarketWatch report, the telco is planning to set up a high-capacity radio network for quick Internet connections in metropolitan areas of India come next year.

I wonder if we need yet another ISP in India, with already a number of incumbent players – Reliance, Tata Indicom, MTNL, BSNL, Hathaway, Tikona, Sify and Bharti Airtel, and France Telecom, Vodafone and DEN Networks also planning ISPs. With the last mile still closed, wireless is being seen as the way to go; which is where Devas Multimedia comes in.

Devas MultiMedia:Looking To Raise Funds

Deutsche Telekom received permission from India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) last year to invest Rs. 317.85 crore into Devas Multimedia, a little known Bangalore-based wireless services company, which was working on a long term Mobile TV (DMB) project with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). DT has acquired 17% stake in Devas.

Interestingly enough, Devas is looking to raise funds. The company, which already has Telecom Ventures and Columbia Capital as investors, apart from Deutsche Telekom, has a proposal pending with the FIPB for permission to “induct fresh foreign equity participation with the induction of a new foreign collaborator.”

Devas is a curious case: little is known about it, and it still appears to be in stealth mode:  there’s no website and there is little information on it except of it’s work with ISRO and its backers.

India desperately needs a catalyst to boost Internet penetration: Internet growth in July 2009 in India has actually fallen to 2.7% from 3.4% in June and 6.3% in May 2009. Besides the well known issues of delinking last mile access and ISP licensing which are throttling growth, other issues Deutsche Telekom will need to grapple with are low PC adoption and lack of Indic language content.

Companies Eying ISP Space In India

Earlier this year, France Telecom also entered India through Equant Network Services, its joint venture with Emery Technologies with the intention of launching Internet services;  Vodafone too announced its entry. The latest to announce plans of becoming an Internet service provider is DEN Networks, a cable TV company which is planning to go public to raise funds.

The Wireline Alternative: Broadband Over Power

Research and experiments on Broadband over Power Lines have been on for years – news about it pops up every few months. Indian Express has the latest: about Bengal Engineering and Science University professors and CESC have implemented Broadband over Power in two housing estates in Kolkata. The copper wires that supply electricity to double as broadband connections and installing a customer premise equipment that decodes the signals and brings them to your computer. But if it’s that simple, why is it taking so long to materialise? The government recently deferred an application by Powermax Communications, a provider of power transmission  and distribution management systems and broadband over power services, to increase foreign equity participation.

Tata DOCOMO is joining the Nth operator for the Tamil Nadu Circle, with their GSM offering (Honestly i’ve lost count). The CURRENT ones being Aircel (erstwhile RPG), Airtel (erstwhile Skycell), BSNL, Vodafone, Reliance CDMA, Tata CDMA (Tata Indicom), MTS CDMA, Reliance GSM.

But their interesting offer is 1 Paise per Second billing for all calls you make from your home service area to across India, Local or STD. Heard there’s a huge demand from the Pre-paid community for this service.