The great Indian telecom battle


A few days back i had gone to my paternal uncle’s home in Meerut. He told me that he is shifting from Airtel to BSNL. Upon enquiring why, he said that BSNL call rates are cheaper than Airtel and it also provides cheap and wider roaming. I couldn’t say anything as both of his points were valid.

I went to the market to get a few things for him. Suddenly i remembered that i have sliped one of the items off my mind! Not to worry! when will the flappy mobile phone in my pocket be used? This is the perfect situation! I asked the shopkeeper to wait and very proudly removing my phone from the pocket, dialled his mobile number.

A long engage tone. Redial 1nce, 2wice, 3rice, no hope. The shopkeeper slowly pushed his DOT phone in front of me. I called my uncle and bought the choke for his 20 watts tube rod.

Desperate and irritated and angry, i called up the customer care. Sorry sir, the system says “Roaming customers in Meerut may face problems in calling some or all BSNL customers”. The problem will be solved as soon as possible. Firstly, Reliance and BSNL customers cannot send SMS to each other and now this! My uncle knew a GM in BSNL. I asked him about the SMS thing. He said there is no problem from BSNL’s side, only Reliance has to do some software or hardware upgrade. I dropped a mail to the Relliance Infocomm’s CEO thru their website regarding the same subject. Out came the expected reply – “Everything is fine at Reliance’s end, only BSNL has to do some software or hardware upgrade”.

After returning back, i went to a Reliance web world. I told the customer care girl that i am unable to make calls to BSNL customers while roaming. She litrally cut my sentence and told me very proudly that i must have gone to Meerut! And the problem is expected to sustain for some time more. I wondered if everyone knows the problem, then why aren’t they solving it?

Yes! thats it! i got it!

What?

The million dollar question is – What is the problem?

The problem is not that BSNL or Reliance or any 3rd company has to do some hardware or software upgrade, instead the problem is despite knowing the bottleneck, they are not trying to remove it. The SMS problem is pertaining since the launch of Reliance Infocomm’s services. But still, it seems nobody is trying to solve it.

When?

When will they solve it?

God only knows. Customer care people always say – “Sir, this problem will be solved within a month”.

Why?

Why aren’t they solving the problem?

Probably because both are the biggest contender to each other.

Where?

Where do we find ourselves?

Being crushed at the bottom.

I thought deeply about the “What” problem.Then i analyzed that people in India are, by default, lazy. They will let things go wrong, unless it affects them.

Why don’t we understand that if everyone will take care of others, no one will
have to take care of one’s own self!

The future holds great things for all of us.
And BTW, did i mention that got a 40W choke for my uncle’s 20W tube rod and it burnt!

  1. #1 by chirag on August 23, 2004 - 12:38 pm

    Way to go Setu,
    Just like the last page of a CHIP.
    I completely agree that we guys are very lazy(maybe that’s why Indians blog so less).
    And from now I’ll try to help others as much as possible.

  2. #2 by Anonymous on September 4, 2004 - 3:03 am

    Nah cant say tooooo much bout the Telecom battle…..i dnt hv a mobile.but anyways just heard this truth that yes reliance network poses probs for people receiving SMSs from other networks….probably it some kind of a business strategy they r following….
    just loved the last part of ur article…..its one big truth of life…..but only if we hv people who implement the truth…….but Personal experience says being soooo gud to anyone doesnt pay u …..maybe everytime
    or just even half the times……..juhi.

  3. #3 by chirag on August 23, 2004 - 6:08 pm

    Just like the last page of a CHIP.
    I completely agree that we guys are very lazy(maybe that’s why Indians blog so less).
    And from now I’ll try to help others as much as possible.

  4. #4 by chirag on August 23, 2004 - 6:08 pm

    Way to go Setu,
    Just like the last page of a CHIP.
    I completely agree that we guys are very lazy(maybe that’s why Indians blog so less).
    And from now I’ll try to help others as much as possible.

  5. #5 by Anonymous on September 4, 2004 - 8:33 am

    just loved the last part of ur article…..its one big truth of life…..but only if we hv people who implement the truth…….but Personal experience says being soooo gud to anyone doesnt pay u …..maybe everytime
    or just even half the times……..juhi.

  6. #6 by Anonymous on September 4, 2004 - 8:33 am

    Nah cant say tooooo much bout the Telecom battle…..i dnt hv a mobile.but anyways just heard this truth that yes reliance network poses probs for people receiving SMSs from other networks….probably it some kind of a business strategy they r following….
    just loved the last part of ur article…..its one big truth of life…..but only if we hv people who implement the truth…….but Personal experience says being soooo gud to anyone doesnt pay u …..maybe everytime
    or just even half the times……..juhi.

  7. #7 by eq2 gold on December 3, 2008 - 11:58 am

    Wow, I wrote a long comment… about as long as the original post. I like you feature which you hav published in this web. I think your phone is great sensation in the world.

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