Corporate BLACKMAIL on 3G Roaming Issue – Rs.200K Cr Roaming SCAM
Honorable Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Copy to CBI, CAG, TRAI & MPs
Sir,
While I am not going in to the political angle in to it and as Technical Expert & WIPO Awarded inventor would like to submit that –
Roaming is big fraud for example going to Punjab on short visit Roaming is charged while crossing Delhi to Haryana, Haryana to Punjab, Punjab to Haryana and Haryana to Punjab when computerized Exchanges simply handover my service to other state stations.
CBI may investigate Roaming Fraud that could exceed Rs.200,000 crores allowed since 1995 when there was skeletal Mobile Service and mobile subscriber base was barely a million. But it continued even after Unified Licenses were issued 2001. Apart from illegal fixed Roaming Charges consumers were billed Multiple Times – For example when I am in Punjab and making call to my brother in Punjab – a call is charged for three calls Punjab to Delhi and Delhi to Punjab and my brother is also charged for accepting my call. This fraud led to subscribers acquiring Multiple Sims, Multiple or Dual Sim Mobiles for use in Different states.
Firstly three Corporate are ‘Cheating’ consumers from day one by raising fictitious bills – for example Charging for internet when not provided or undesired, unwanted barrage of SMSes and Commercial calls, fictitious Roaming etc.
I alone changed Mobile Operator from Vodafone to Tata, to Airtel, to Idea since 2001 and in hope of getting convergence from an Airtel Land Line switched to Airtel land line in 2002 end after over billing problems discontinued service and I didn’t get back security deposits even after complaints to TRAI. I was tricked in to subscribing for a TataWalky connection but Tata didn’t provide equipment. I view of poor quality of Handsets had to buy 4 handsets and one was gifted.
I am glad TRAI has abolished Roaming for 2G services and would support TRAI on behalf of Indian consumers to STAY FIRM on not allowing 3G Roaming.
With the result in Delhi mobile Tele Density is over 225% this implies every citizen has more than 2 mobile connections. Since most of the equipment like Handsets have only 3% hardware – it is a massive undesirable drain on our economy.
Secondly as per AR of TRAI 2009-10 there is 75 million Switching Land Line Capacity so Broadband – Convergence services could have been provided but instead Consumers are separately charged for on average 10 Mobile Connections per household on average, Internet or Broadband wireless connection and DTH or CAS Cable Services.
Obviously almost half of our households or 70 million could have INDIGENOUS SERVICES – Land Lines, IPTV, Broadband service and one or two mobiles shared by family.
Thirdly DTH and Cable Service allow on average 50 services in rural cable service and 100 channels in urban areas and DTH around 120 average channels when over 800 are operational.
Consumers have no choice to access more than 10 News Channels that offer Low Quality and largely film based contents with frequent long duration advertising.
Consumers are charged even when channels for Sports or Serials or News broadcast Advertisements exceeding 10-20 minutes per hour.
Fourth RIL, Airtel, Tata, MTNL, and another operator laid 30 Optical Fibers network in each fiber has more Bandwidth than serviced by India presently but broadband services were not provided.
Cities in India could have Convergence Services largely developed by Indian Companies.
Fifthly – There is already Rs.200,000 crore Roaming Scam.
Sixthly – India could have avoided Rs.200,000 crores worth Imports for Telecom Services and could save at least Rs.300,000 crores worth imports by 2015.
Seventh – Most of the imported equipment imported by Telecom are in operational control of foreign vendors compromising our National Security.
TRAI and Indian Telecom industry to provide Convergence Solutions avoiding future imports.
Last year Indian Companies displayed Indigenously Developed 3G & 4G technology that could provide Rural Wireless services Voice & Data most economically.
In fact so inexpensive that some states may provide Free Telecom services to BPL households.
BSNL may provide DTH free service and provide ‘Equal Opportunity’ to all TV and FM broadcasters.
Ravinder Singh
Inventor & Consultant
November23, 2011
3G roaming pacts: Telco honchos write to PM
FE Bureau
Posted online: 2011-11-23 02:06:00+05:30
FE Bureau
Posted online: 2011-11-23 02:06:00+05:30
New Delhi The intra-circle 3G roaming imbroglio has now reached the prime minister's doorstep. Upset that the department of telecommunications (DoT), the law ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) have categorised such pacts as illegal, chairmen of the country's three largest mobile operators wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stating that all roaming pacts were legal.
Bharti Airtel chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal, Aditya Birla group (which runs Idea Cellular) chairman Kumarmangalam Birla and Vodafone Plc chief Vittorio Colao, in a joint letter, also said that in case the government finally decides that such roaming pacts are illegal then they are ready to surrender their spectrum and the government should refund them their money.
A similar letter had earlier been jointly written by the three operators to the DoT. The three firms together paid Rs 29,682 crore towards 3G spectrum for various circles.
Writing a letter to the PM on a sectoral policy matter reflects growing frustration of the mobile operators with what they call 'policy flip flops'.
The three corporate titans have said that as the government auctioned only three slots per telecom circle to operators in the 3G spectrum auction conducted last year, they bid such astronomical amounts only after fully knowing that they would be allowed to roam their subscribers on to another's 3G network in the circles where they didn't win any spectrum.
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