Sunil Mittal gives up on cheap broadband in India: We are giving up on Airtel Broadband coz of FUP

[Abhishek]

I have always liked Airtel as a company ever since I took up their connection. Their response has been quick and never faltered on their services even once. However, they have not been able to maintain this quality of service elsewhere in many other places. It does not denigrate them but if the appeal is anything to go by (at the beginning of the thread), I doubt whether anything would really come of it. Wireless is the quickest mode of getting returns on investment and it is comparatively cheaper to roll out. This is the reason why companies like Reliance is betting big on 4G after acquisition of a little known ISP (I think from HFCL in Punjab). This obviates the need for various "permissions", quick roll out and of course, no one gives a damn about "customer delight". Fact of the matter is that bulk of the net users relies on email+social networking+occasional videos combination. The outliers (like us) need it for perhaps some torrents+ streaming video+VoIP. It is a very heterogeneous market and to address individual concerns by "one size fits all" is rather outmoded. As for the quality of 3G, I still hold that wireless broadband is all fluff; it wasn't imaginable few years back (although we heard a lot about NTT in Japan) and companies have been stupid enough to get in 3G bandwagon without creating the requisite ecosystem for it. Bulk of the handsets are outmoded in terms of 3G access and even in those places where GPRS is enabled, I wonder whether it has set it up on fire. I have encountered ordinary people using GPRS to check perhaps mails+social networking (where Docomo has separate GPRS plans) and the market has remained stuck in this rut for years together. It takes huge amount of money to create an ecosystem for the apps and of course the regulatory approvals for SMS banking and perhaps micropayments. Tatas had it long time back (in 2005) on their CDMA platform but I guess it wasn't launched. Any VAS requires "extra charges" and people are loath to pay it up.Keeping this in mind, wireline broadband is suffering from similar issues. People whining here for "unlimited bytes and more bytes" are missing the vital issue. Poor PC penetration apart, it is the absence of any "killer feature" in the dumb broadband pipes. So the only way to market Airtel BB is by advertising huge speeds with Fair Usage Policies because thats the only way THEY think they can make money. In similar vein Net Neutrality issues have not taken root here; or else ISP's would have made a killing.