Tata Docomo 3G FAQs

[Abhishek]

1) Tata's network would have been 3G ready from day 1 because it's a fairly new network - they would have only started building it in 2008, so I'd suspect that they already have a completely 3G capable network, and they are rolling it out in bits to ensure that the network doesn't "fall over" due to newly increased load (and also will tell them where they might need to upgrade backbone or interconnecting links) - as a service provider I can fully understand this move, but from the consumer side it looks a bit half arsed.


2) Take this up with the TRAI. If they are advertising a free trial and they don't mention this limit, this is against the regulations. Take a screenshot for proof.

3) Competent or not, I'm merely defending their right to put a 100MB limit on their free trial. If they didn't, can you imagine how inundated their network would become in a matter of MINUTES if people are downloading as much as possible at 2, 3 even 6mbit/s (assuming they have the right hardware)?

I too have found Tata to have some serious communication issues within their organization even at the wholesale level, but on the whole, customer service seems to be something that isn't taken particularly seriously by almost any company in India - consumercomplaints.in would suggest that Telcos and ISPs are among the worst offenders.

4) As for my company, my sales and support people should know our products inside and out. I hire based on enthusiasm and general competence. I still have the 6 CVs of my sales team in a folder in my suitcase which I haven't read, because I hired those I liked and who were able to give me good, straight answers - and the rest went home.

My teams will also spend half a day per week catching up and/or reading the latest news & training about the products, offerings etc, and unlike Airtel and so forth, I have no plans to have a retention department because I would like for our service to be so good that it would be unnecessary.


5) I can predict what would happen for you now: everything would stop working and EVERYONE would be unable to access it and Tata would have an even bigger image problem on it's hands.


My contention:
1) Tatas were probably waiting for the spectrum. They have it, they have managed to turn it over.

2) I don't have the 3G activated on my set and there is no where they say that it is limited to "100 MB". I think I read this somewhere here but the contributor cites some "source". I assumed that it would be true knowing the cussedness of Tatas.

3) This is assuming that all the dodos would start inundating the network with "torrents" or the likes. I have been mapping my usage patterns over the past two months and never exceed 150-200 MB in a month. I consider myself to be "fairly advanced" as far as net access is concerned; there is no way it makes any sense to tether my Android to my Ubuntu and start "surfing". It's a crappy experience and reminds me of the pains of BSNL Dial Up. Puke.

And yes, Tatas have shown their incompetency everywhere. Do you know that they make trucks? Drive any Tata Car (Indica on roads) and you'd realize why we are still a "developing country". Basically it comes with a set of wheels, a steering and a "park bench" in rear with something called as an "engine". It's bound to rattle your bones and turn you into a god fearing person for ever.

But then we are talking about mobiles and 3G. Tata's magic extends beautifully here...a notional "network". Many times, my voice echoes" and I am too scared to call up customer care because I am afraid that no one would understand what I am saying!

4) Let's take you on your face value. Let's assume that you have best of the breed. Or else, you'd have a flurry of posts here on the same forum 🙂 Indians (sorry to say) but are known to cry and bawl out and would not move a finger to work out real issues or try and sort out the mess. They feel discouraged by approaching some "director" because they get "overawed" easily. (Disclaimer: Those who feel offended, it's not's for them and it does not apply to me because I have fought for my rights)

5) Thats why I don't want frigging wireless broadband. To some extent, it is okay (as a stop gap arrangement) but over a period of time, Wireless would go out of fashion. Tatas have screwed up and they know it. Be it there CDMA, Virgin (which is no longer a "virgin"), Photon Plus (crap according to many) and now Docomo. They don't learn, do they? Thats why the definition of a MORON applies to them. Sorry but they had ample opportunities to start afresh.

 

[mgcarley]

the wholesale rates of bandwidth are a completely different game to a final end product service and Service Levels offered to customers.

Yes and no. India certainly does get a lot more value for it's money for voice services, partially because there is a lot of competition and a lot of volume and the 2G spectrum was reportedly sold "on the cheap".

it's all about market maturity, consumer protection, government regulations and directives.

If I had to guess, I would suggest the NZ market is more mature - certainly older. While the population is not there, the cost per customer is about the same, and I'm sure you'll know about what a pain in the ass the Indian government is when it comes to anything in the Telecom industry - the NZ government is a little more hands off, but we do have the commerce commission.

Secondly, I assume since you know about wholesale bandwidths you also know the challenges telecom companies face internally between the corporate,consumer and wholesale divisions.

Again, that depends on which country you're talking about. In India, the wholesale and retail divisions in the companies are still (allowed to be) one and the same. Not so in most other places.

I happen to know bandwidth costs across the globe, but lets not get into that discussion. The end point is market maturity, customer awareness and consumer rights protection, which evolve over time and not overnight.

I'm sure most Kiwis are well aware that we're getting ripped off.

In my view, India has one of the cheapest mobile services in the world, so we have our little positives.

Correct.

Regarding SIM's I donot think you can buy a sim in India (Prepaid), across the counter with an international passport (unless someone vouches as a local contact).

I did. I have 4 SIM cards, all of them in my name.

Secondly, I donot think you can start roaming across countries with it unless you recharge and extend validity. thats my point.

I pay Rs99 per month for roaming. Big whoop.

i picked up my vodafone sim in Sydney across a 7-Eleven store while getting myself a flat white. total cost 3 dollars ( 1 for the coffee, 2 for sim). this sim still works and i havent spent a penny, thats sweet! again you cant do that in India in a coffeee shop!

True, but I have done just that in about 25 other countries as well, at prices ranging from a dollar or so to about 30 euros.

it is still stiffled roaming but it gets you some important incoming sms's.

...even without the recharge, I still get incoming SMSes. I haven't recharged this month or last month, but the incoming SMSes continue.

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

My contention:
1) Tatas were probably waiting for the spectrum. They have it, they have managed to turn it over.

Waiting for spectrum or not, the price difference between 2G and 3G base stations is negligible. Might as well future proof yourself, even if the 3G auctions still weren't happening.

2) I don't have the 3G activated on my set and there is no where they say that it is limited to "100 MB". I think I read this somewhere here but the contributor cites some "source". I assumed that it would be true knowing the cussedness of Tatas.

...I'm not quite sure how to answer this as we may be talking about 2 separate things now.

3) This is assuming that all the dodos would start inundating the network with "torrents" or the likes. I have been mapping my usage patterns over the past two months and never exceed 150-200 MB in a month. I consider myself to be "fairly advanced" as far as net access is concerned; there is no way it makes any sense to tether my Android to my Ubuntu and start "surfing". It's a crappy experience and reminds me of the pains of BSNL Dial Up. Puke.

Me too. I have a similar usage patterns to you. But the simple fact is, not everyone is like you and I - mobile internet (GPRS or 3G) has it's place in our lives and we use wired broadband for everything else.

The simple fact is that I suspect enough people would tether their devices to their laptops and begin flooding the network with BT traffic and such, and it's these people who would tend to complain the loudest when everything turned to... custard.

And yes, Tatas have shown their incompetency everywhere. Do you know that they make trucks? Drive any Tata Car (Indica on roads) and you'd realize why we are still a "developing country". Basically it comes with a set of wheels, a steering and a "park bench" in rear with something called as an "engine". It's bound to rattle your bones and turn you into a god fearing person for ever.

I'm aware. I prefer to drive (or be driven in) decent cars. I have no intention of ever parking my arse in a Nano - I value my life, thank you very much!

But then we are talking about mobiles and 3G. Tata's magic extends beautifully here...a notional "network". Many times, my voice echoes" and I am too scared to call up customer care because I am afraid that no one would understand what I am saying!

As mentioned, this seems to be a fairly consistant experience across most providers.

4) Let's take you on your face value. Let's assume that you have best of the breed. Or else, you'd have a flurry of posts here on the same forum 🙂 Indians (sorry to say) but are known to cry and bawl out and would not move a finger to work out real issues or try and sort out the mess. They feel discouraged by approaching some "director" because they get "overawed" easily. (Disclaimer: Those who feel offended, it's not's for them and it does not apply to me because I have fought for my rights)

Now I just have to drape some flowers and chilis over my new servers for good luck.

5) Thats why I don't want frigging wireless broadband. To some extent, it is okay (as a stop gap arrangement) but over a period of time, Wireless would go out of fashion. Tatas have screwed up and they know it. Be it there CDMA, Virgin (which is no longer a "virgin"), Photon Plus (crap according to many) and now Docomo. They don't learn, do they? Thats why the definition of a MORON applies to them. Sorry but they had ample opportunities to start afresh.

I don't disagree with you in the slightest - that's why I'm building a frigging FTTH network instead of a wireless service (well... the latter is happening too but we're not designing it for high-bandwidth applications and so forth...)

We might say in the west, "if it ain't broke, why fix it", but perhaps the mantra in India is a little different: "if it barely works, some of the time, I'll think about doing something after my chai break."

So 3G "Broadband" has it's place, and I'd be more than happy with 1 or 2GB per month most of the time - it is cool to be able to tether my phone and grab a file from online when needed during a business meeting or whatever, and this kind of cap would allow me to do that as needed, but I doubt I'd hit that kind of usage because I'm using the service in the way that it's intended.

 

[jdjain3]

^^^^ the last lines of ur artical applied to me also , when i need to check email and download any attachemnets these crappy thing done it quite well

 

[sandeep Jain]

News ---- Source docomo FB page - "Breaking News: All purchases and recharges of 3G services done before 31 December 2010 will get an additional 100 MB of free data per month for the first two months" Link - Tata Docomo | Facebook

 

[jdjain3]

we know dude

 

[farmboy]

Why are the private players concentrating only on big cities for 3g whereas it is the villages.towns and interiors which need 3g the most.Big cities already have fast broadband connectivity.Actually this is not about development and empowering the common man with new technologies like 3G but instead it is all about money.

 

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[akshay12]

Why are the private players concentrating only on big cities for 3g whereas it is the villages.towns and interiors which need 3g the most.Big cities already have fast broadband connectivity.

Actually this is not about development and empowering the common man with new technologies like 3G but instead it is all about money.


Big cities already have fast broadband connectivity.
When did that happen dude we still define broadband as 256kbps check trai for confirmation lol.Where are the plans between expected to release tonight right !

 

[farmboy]

Big cities already have fast broadband connectivity.
When did that happen dude we still define broadband as 256kbps check trai for confirmation lol.Where are the plans between expected to release tonight right !

All big cities have broadband beyond 1 Mbps or even 2 Mbps via BSNL landline,BSNL EVDO,Airtel Landline,Reliance EVDO,Tata Docomo etc.I am not talking only of 3G.
But villages lack all these.

 

[Jonas]

^ Village lack all these. That's what government seems to be not concerned of.3G and fast broadband services, is basically to serve some meaningful needs of a nation.Not just HD video streaming, and online gaming.

 

[jdjain3]

all my hope is on Mukesh ambani for high speed roll out of broadband in villages using 4G LTE tech ,

in 2004 he rocked india with best tech of cdma for voice , this time may be in 2014 or in 2013 he will revolutionise india with broadband revoloution

in a songle connection he will provide IPTV wireless , VOIP may be Voice calling , and offcourse high speed Internet , forget about 3G in villages till 2015 , even then it is just outdated tech

---------- Post added at 10:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 PM ----------

Five year is too too long time considering technological advancement in world , everything happens very fast , even 5G tech is going to be commercial after 2020 ,

World is very fast , only Mukesh je understand , Anil is just do better with collaborating 3G with 4G of his brother and make Rupees

 

[mgcarley]

in 2004 he rocked india with best tech of cdma for voice


CDMA just isn't. If it was, it's development wouldn't be now discontinued even by Qualcomm.

India took 9 years to get to 3G, and although while IPTV and "reasonable" broadband can be possible over 3G and 4G (which is currently still an advertising gimmick -almost everywhere: most operators have actually only deployed 3.9G), the simple fact is this:

Domestic VOIP in India will require a law change, since VOIP-PSTN interconnection within India is currently banned. All of the operators offering VOIP offer it for International Long Distance only.

But Broadband of ~5 to 10mbit/s is possible assuming the consumer has the right devices in his hands. Currently most 3G and long-distance WiMax equipment still only hits about 2 or 3 mbit/s.

When 4G does finally start hitting the market properly, these speeds will increase, but it still requires the devices to reach the consumers hands and in India, this centers around the price: especially when going to rural areas!

Yes, we all know what 3G and even 4G devices are supposed to be able to achieve and what they can get under ideal conditions, but I'm talking about real-world commercial deployments here, and more importantly, ensuring the technology works on the move (since it all mostly relates to mobile rather than fixed wireless).

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to seeing rural areas get some form of actual broadband at 2mbit/s or more, and I hope even to be part of that.

As for 5G, at this point it's barely predictable right now, but from memory, the goal is gigabit over wireless.

 

[jdjain3]

VOIP must be legal in india , but unfortunate it is not, but now 4G has clear roadmap ahead and all IP network. It is possible now , even RIL has the power to change policy for own benifit,

If it happen , then definitely broadband revouloution begins

---------- Post added at 09:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 PM ----------

Even Gov is considering auctioning 700Mhz for 4G tech even i think 1400Mhz is also must be auction, and use it in cities and metro , and 700mhz for villages and remote area ,

but it is very very long process , they must approve it , then vacate the spectrum from TV channels and even from defense , then set a price tag and then something auction happens , all take 5 years

So till than RIL-Infotel has much more time to build infrastructure and start 4G lte

 

[mgcarley]

VOIP must be legal in india , but unfortunate it is not, but now 4G has clear roadmap ahead and all IP network. It is possible now , even RIL has the power to change policy for own benifit,

If it happen , then definitely broadband revouloution begins


The reason VOIP is not legal in India is more-or-less the same reason they have been considering banning Blackberry and even revoking Skype's licenses: the government can't spy on these services.

Unless and until that changes, it's unlikely that VOIP-PSTN termination is going to happen in India - but I hope RIL can change the policies.

So much for being a democracy 😉

Even Gov is considering auctioning 700Mhz for 4G tech even i think 1400Mhz is also must be auction, and use it in cities and metro , and 700mhz for villages and remote area ,

but it is very very long process , they must approve it , then vacate the spectrum from TV channels and even from defense , then set a price tag and then something auction happens , all take 5 years

So till than RIL-Infotel has much more time to build infrastructure and start 4G lte

The VHF bands are currently being explored in Australia for rural broadband delivery and might be effective in rural India - I believe this is what you are talking about?

But I think the players that ended up pulling out of the race and essentially handing the victory over to RIL are going to be at the mercy of RIL in a few years, which I think will turn out very badly for everyone, since it will force all who want to operate such services to sub-lease spectrum from RIL or operate on the back of it's carrier network.

 

[amitstg]

i m getting the HSPA+ broadband , yesterday i did download couple of movies , and i did not charge anything , i m using micromax modem unlocked

my mobile partner shows hspa+ network whenever i connect with tata docomo where as for bsnl it shows hsdpa