rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 "If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Ride". Heard the proverb in kindergarten days. Refers to something which is impossible or day dreaming. Even today the Mobile Consumer in India is sort of a beggar for many just or necessary wishes. On the last day of the year 2010, Here is my Wish List For the Telecom Sector in 2011. Fellow Beggars…errrr….Fellow RIMweb members do contribute your wishes….. Indian Mobile User's Association The total mobile subscriber base as on 31st October 2010 is 706.69 Million. Assuming that even 50% of this number belong to non active or multiple connections, we have 353.34 Million Mobile users in the country, that's about 35 Crore Customers. AND We Have No Unified, Large Voice At all to represent our interests to Government, Regulatory Authorities or Telecom Operators. In India we have interest groups, associations, unions for every imaginable thing who protect their interests with unified representation but most of the time with coercion. Few Examples, -Some 50,000 Taxiwallas and 1,00,000 Rickshaw Owners keeps a city like Mumbai with 1.5 Crore population to ransom everytime they want a fare hike and gets it easily. -A few hundred ATC (Air Traffic Controllers) can halt entire Aviation Sector in India and get their demands met. -About a million or so Transport Operators gets their demands met (However unjustified) every time by halting their wheels for a few days. Imagine how powerful Indian Mobile User's Association can be with a strength of 35 Crore Members. And funding this can be pretty easy. For a Start if every mobile subscriber gives just Rs 20 as Lifetime Membership, Rs 700 Crore can be raised. With that type of money, this association can have countrywide offices, hire the best talent, can have their own call centers and many things more. For further funding and to meet year to year expenses, All fines levied to Telecom Operators can go to this body like all fines levied in Stock Markets goes to Investor Education Fund. Some of the innovative activities this body can do for members is, -Mobile Strikes-An operator not listening…Boycott them for a day or more and cause some serious revenue damage. -Gandhigiri Type Satyagrah-All avenues exhausted and still the operator not listening. Well All members of this body will simply stop paying their bills to the particular operator. Let them initiate crores of recovery suits….They will come to their senses sooner than you think. -Mandatory representation of this body in all telecom policy formulation and management. Think more and you will realize what can be done with unity and strength… Pesky Call/SMS Punishment For years we are suffering the agony but it took TRAI one pesky call received by Mr. Pranav Mukherjee while in a meeting to get all charged up and come up with the new Pesky Call/SMS regulations. Now from 1st January implementation, it is rolled back to February. Still even after will it be effective with all the enhanced fines, registration procedures and what not… I have a simple suggestion for ending this menace… -Whenever a Customer will receive a pesky call, he can just press a pre-defined 3 number combination on any handset and then the same call will be simultaneously routed to Prime Minister, Entire Council of Ministers, All MP's & MLA's and Leaders of all Political Parties. The system will be such that all of them will have to listen to the call in full and cannot cut it off. No other function will be possible on the phone till the call is completed. -Similarly for pesky SMS, again a pre-defined 3 number combination and it gets delivered to all the above. Again they will have to read it fully and only then the handset is available for any other function. TRAI don't try for lengthy regulation. Try the above. It will work wonders in ending this menace once and for all… Web Based Mobile Account Management-Pre Paid Included All Mobile Operators have varying degrees of Web Based Customer Account Management available but mostly for Post Paid. The irony here is that in India out of the total mobile customer base, nearly 90% is pre-paid. Even for Postpaid Customers, Web Based Account Management is not comprehensive. The Operator's excuse for not providing this services to Pre-paid customers is inability to manage such a large database on the web which is actually a lot of bull***. If all the following services are available to User Online for himself to manage, a lot of our pains and grouse can be avoided, -Switching to a different plan. -Activating and de-activating VAS services. -Managing Caller Tunes. -Activating and de-activating add on packs for Calls, SMS. -Recharge, Balance Management, Usage History. Mobile Coverage Check Tool Mandatory on Telecom Operators Websites It's a tough job deciding a network operator for coverage. For the same operator, one city may have excellent coverage and another very poor. This changes even within city areawise. As of today, the mobile consumer has no way to check what quality coverage he can expect within the areas most used by him other than word of mouth which can be really off the mark most of the time. As all operators network is basically managed by computers and data centers, why not to have a tool on each operators website which can graphically display the following information, -BTS Numbers and Location in a Particular Area. -Signal Strength, Congestion, Call Initiation, Completion, Call Drop rates in a particular area. With this the consumer will be able to choose the best network in the respective area. VOIP made legal for use within India We all make those dirt cheap VOIP calls abroad to Mobiles and Landlines. Why not make them legal for Calling within India to all mobiles and landlines. This one move can be the real game changer as far as tariffs go and will keep all telcos on their toes. Till now they have succeeded by lobbying against this but this is the change which is needed. Optical Fiber Data pipes, broadband connectivity and all infrastructure is already there. Just a policy move is needed. Reliance Infotel LTE Rollout Reliance Infotel's LTE High Speed Wireless Broadband Rollout this year should change the broadband sector in India quite dramatically. Hope is for a nationwide rollout with Economical Data Packages and Choice between various devices. But the biggest anticipation is that Mukesh Ambani will roll out this with Voice Capability also. Lets hope this wish comes out true. Economical 3G Hi-Speed Data Yes, Yes we all know you brainless 3G auction winners that you blew up thousands of crores in 3G Spectrum and now think that it was too costly perhaps. So you want to extract the same from 3G Customers. Reminds me of a drunken, gambler husband who will always blew up everything and will return to the helpless wife demanding more dowry. Usually the Pati Parmeshvar type Wife will toil hard and meet all the demands for years living in suffering and pain. But today's India is different. The other half is liberated, courageous and will not tolerate nonsense. The only way for Telcos to wriggle out from this is to have sensible 3G data tariffs so that there is widespread adoption which in turn generates the much needed revenue for them. Telcos should understand that the Consumer wants Economical Data Tariff which may not necessarily be cheap. There is a difference between the two. OMH Handsets Mandatory For CDMA When you buy a Car, is it legal for your manufacturer to demand that you can fill up the petrol from only Hindustan Petroleum OR can use only Apollo Tyres? Then why allow CDMA Operators to have network locked handsets particularly now when OMH Handset Technology is available. Make a law or regulation making it mandatory that any new CDMA handset launched henceforth has to be OMH handset so the consumer can freely use it on any CDMA network. Nationwide MNP Including Outside Circles We are still keeping the finger crossed whether the damn thing will happen or not on 20th January for the entire country. But even if it happens, it will be limited to switching within the same circle. Though assurances are given that Intra Circle switchover is the ultimate aim, this has to happen very soon. Technology is already there and this will be real freedom for the consumer. Right To Information Act Coverage of Even Pvt. Sector Telecom Cos. This one Act has really made a difference for helpless entity called aam aadmi in India. Most powerful and mighty have come down to earth with intelligent use of this powerful tool. But it is not applicable to Private Sector Companies. With Telecom such a vital sector having Crores of subscribers, isn't it in real Public Interest to extend Right to Information Act Coverage to All Telecom Companies. BSNL-MTNL Merger, Listing on Stock Exchange and Freedom From Babudom We have been hearing this since years and long overdue. The BSNL-MTNL merger and one entity nationwide can give some serious competition to Private Telcos and relief to millions of Customers who want BSNL Services but can't get it simply because they are in Mumbai and New Delhi which are incidently two cities with the largest mobile customers. BSNL disinvestment plans are also heard since ages but nothing done. Even with a 20% disinvestment (New Equity), BSNL can get critical fund infusion for exapansion and network enhancement. And Freedom from Babudom concerns BSNL/MTNL's equipment purchases. Everyone knows how this one simple factor delaying equipment purchases keeps BSNL/MTNL behind the Pvt. Telcos and dents its competitive advantage. "Agni Pariksha" For Spectrum Scamsters We have heard story in Ramayan when Bhagvan RAM subjected SITA Maiya for Agni-Pariksha before accepting her back. SITA Maiya walked the fire and came out without any hurt. While this was thousands of years back and in today's world, the idea of justice and punishment has changed… Still going by the chaos in the spectrum scam of a JPC, PAC, CBI, Supreme Court, Enquiry Commission…..endless delays….The Culprits are never going to be punished for years. Why not have "Agni Pariksha" for all Spectrum Scamsters? None of them will pass and burn out. Good riddance and swift justice. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
me_saket 73 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 Very details Investigation and then post martem of ITI (indian telecom industry). I am ready to Pay Rs20 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karthik R 246 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 @Rajan you left out the most sought after CDMA 3G airwaves auction! that holds no. 1 position on my wish list. Next comes the elusive foreign handset's acceptance and activation by Tata Indicom. Yup, you guys are thinking right - dream on.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 +1 to you dear Rajan Brother. All your points and concerns are 100% valid. And regarding "Indian Mobile User's Association", yes ofcourse there's a need for such an association for the benefit of the consumers. Many operators just don't listen to the complaints of Prepaid subscribers and sometimes even to Postpaid subscribers. Why not we altogether take the initiative to start such an association. Its a teamwork and can't be done alone. I'm always ready for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) @Rajan you left out the most sought after CDMA 3G airwaves auction! that holds no. 1 position on my wish list. Not looking forward to CDMA 3G auction.... CDMA operators will have one more reason to hike already expensive CDMA data rates like 3G GSM after shelling out few thousand crores more.... Why not we altogether take the initiative to start such an association. Its a teamwork and can't be done alone. I'm always ready for it. You are an exception but Together and Initiative!!! Kamalbhai these two words are very distant for India's Educated Middle Class. Unless something will threaten their existence itself, it will not bother for anything else living in their isolated, self centered islands of happyness. Even when the existence is threatened (Like Mumbai 26-11 Terror Attacks), few candles lighted, some web pages made and few walk inns at Gateway of India (Nice place to hangout), That's about it!! Edited December 31, 2010 by rajanmehta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ami1 237 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 +1 to you dear Rajan Brother. All your points and concerns are 100% valid. And regarding "Indian Mobile User's Association", yes ofcourse there's a need for such an association for the benefit of the consumers. Many operators just don't listen to the complaints of Prepaid subscribers and sometimes even to Postpaid subscribers. Why not we altogether take the initiative to start such an association. Its a teamwork and can't be done alone. I'm always ready for it. Great Idea. Maybe a separate topic should be started where some forward path can be discussed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cdma evdo 1 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 Mobile users are no different than any other type of consumers in India....we just get treated like junk ! And do not expect the regulators (in this case TRAI) to do anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 @ami1 My dear friend, yes we can have a small start right from the forum. And when the number of members increase, then we can publicise it throughout the country by different means. As the original idea was of Rajan, I request him to take the initiative to take the first step. I'm with u dear Rajan, if u think we can give it a start. Rimweb could be the best place to start from. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 There will not be much participation Kamalji, as is always the case here. Still if you are positive, khol dijiye ek thread or Dekhte hai kya hota hai!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 ^^^ Dear Rajan Brother, you know this isn't an easy job. Will have to discuss alot before starting such thread. Will PM / Email you and discuss the same in a couple of days. But definetely your Idea can really work. Its a teamwork. We can do it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 3 cheers for rajan and kamal. +1 to both 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted January 3, 2011 ^^^ Hmmm.....post by Kumaar Bhai at 03.26 am Welcome to the RIMWEB MIDNIGHT GANG dear Kumaar Bhai. Aur Gang mein join hone ke liye apko bhi +1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted January 3, 2011 Sorry for OT, Kamalbhai, First of all Congrats on reaching Mount 6K (posts on RW, and not whatever you thought) Secondly, I used to browse RW whenever I lose my sleep in the middle of the night. Only thing is I was unable to post anything from my mobile for a very long time. Now thats possible, (Thanks to Arun for restoring this facility also - the other one being page rendering in Opera Mini - though at times it still needs refresh a couple of times) for giving me a +1.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
