National Integrated Directory Services for India
In the absence of a well thought Telephone Numbering Plan and more than four [maybe more in the next year] telecom operators providing services in each circle, TRAI is now forced to think about publishing White pages for Fixed and Wireless subscribers [PDF] Currently, only BSNL publishes Whitepages for its fixed line / landline subscribers.
TRAI is looking for your valuable suggestions before the finalization of guidelines. One good thing is you can easily opt your number out of the publications [print / online]. If you have any suggestions you may directly write to M.C.Chaube Advisor TRAI at “chaubemc AT trai.gov.in”.
Tata Communications – VSNL-Indicom WiMax Broadband Live in Bangalore
Reliance maybe the first to launch WiMax Broadband for consumers in Bangalore, but had some issues and coverage was limited. Tata Communications [erstwhile VSNL] has launched “Limited Edition Special Offer” Indicom Wimax Broadband in Bangalore. [Yes that's right, the official launch and branding are still in pipeline].
Tata Communications WiMax Infrastructure in Bangalore:
Unlike Reliance Communications, which kicked off with less than 50 WiMax towers, Tata Communications debut will be with over 120 WiMax towers linking corners of “Namma Bengalooru” 
I had read a lot about DHCP issues with Reliance. It is told that, the problem was with their server being unable to handle too many requests when the connections were reset, mostly when new towers were added [some kind of system reset was done]. Tata Indicom has been extremely cautious about it.
Tata Communications – Indicom WiMax Broadband Plans and Offer:
In this limited edition special offer, [I am not sure when it ends, but is likely to run atleast till Dec-31st] consumers can choose from Pre-Paid or Post-Paid plans. More details on plans available on broadband forum.
One of the other things I am really particular is customer support. Tata Communications call center will handle all support related issues. You may contact the following numbers to establish your connection – 99805 46805 / 98867 67690 / 93433 78853. So Bangaloreans, lets goBroabandddd 
Tags: WiMax, WiMax India, Broadband India, Tata Indicom Wimax
Consolidation by Telecom Infrastructure Sharing – Vodafone+Airtel+Idea
While the battle for mobile spectrum between Airtel and Reliance is still on, Bharti Airtel has quietly joined hands with Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to form Indus Towers to share telecom infrastructure. Indus Towers will be an independent entity that will provide passive infrastructure services on a non-discriminatory basis in India to all operators and other wireless service providers, including broadcasters and broadband services providers. It will operate in 16 circles.
Lets see what this joint venture means for each of these entities. Airtel and Vodafone are under increasing pressure on usage of existing spectrum more responsibly though Vodafone is tight lipped in the controversy. I spoke to one of the Nokia-Siemens network engineer and his opinion was they can easily double the number of towers without requiring any additional spectrum to accommodate more subscribers. [This is in Karnataka Circle - Category A for GSM segment] Out of the 16 circles in which Indus Towers operates, Airtel and Vodafone have max spectrum in 4 circles while Idea has in only 3. This means even if Bharti Airtel were to lose its appeal in the High Court of Delhi and TDSAT, Indus Towers will start deploying more towers to accommodate more subscribers which Bharti and Vodafone can utilize at the cost of Idea Cellular because it still doesn’t have license nor the spectrum to operate in all the 16 circles.
If you are an investor, do not look into the valuations these tower companies get because its mere infrastructure company, look at the subscriber numbers, ARPU and growth rate of Telcos. Going by the disruptive school of thought, forget Telecom Tower companies, even Telcos with spectrum are worthless, if the government opens its eyes towards competition and innovation and force them to open networks for other businesses. Recommendations in my next post
MTNL’s poor broadband strategy
State owned Telco operating in the lucrative circles of Mumbai and Delhi has very poor broadband and internet strategies. Officials simply don’t seem to understand the demand for broadband in these two metros. It took nearly 4 years for them to realize the potential of broadband and they say they are still “planning” for a 1 mn broadband capex tender
MTNL’s Tribrand broadband is the fastest growing segment in the company. MTNL Triband currently has pathetic 0.5 mn subscribers i.e just 12.5% of its total fixed line consumer base [Bharti Airtel has 34% broadband subscribers on its fixed line network in these metros]
MTNL is more inclined towards providing triple play service. However, I wonder who would opt for MTNL’s IPTV, when Reliance is on the verge of launching DTH and is rumored to offer free / subsidized LCD TV for DTH subscribers.
Do Not Call Registry may take time to stabilize
TRAI in a release has said that around 20,900 telemarketers applied for registration and only 10,700 have been successfully registered, 7,100 applications have been rejected and the remaining 3,000 applications are still being processed. TRAI said,
Significant number of rejections are on account of duplicate request and mismatch of numbers with other details given in the original application for obtaining connection. However, the telecom service providers have been asked to revisit the cases of rejection as such telemarketers may indulge in unauthorized/unverified calls outside the regulatory framework.
Also 3,865 consumers have complained to the registry of Unsolicited communication. All this means the National Do Not Call Registry will take more time to be effective and cracking on telemarketers won’t began anytime soon as Telcos have also sought time to stabilize the entire process and plug all the holes.
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