TRAIs refuses faster net speed plans

The last week has seen some interesting moves happening on the postpaid front of telecom business. This is a rather dull and inactive category as compared to prepaids despite the fact that it has higher ARPUs than the later. Incidentally most of the telcos set foot in India with postpaid plans first. Prepaids followed.

Very recently most of the telcos tried to sneak in a postpaid plan which was nothing but a re packaged net neutrality defying product. While times are tough for most business and Telcos in particular(AGR hit, other issues), however one would have credited them with more wisdom than trying to get a backdoor entry for such a plan. In the simplest of ways to understand the plan offerings it hinged around a unique USP of faster net speed and priority services to higher paying postpaid customers!

These plans were blocked by TRAI on the grounds of violation of service norms and possibility of lower data speeds for those who have not opted for such plans. These companies had themselves stated to TRAI earlier that they were unable to specify minimum or average speeds provided to customers. How could they now offer higher speed to select customers?!! The rule of broadband services where a customer gets a higher speed for a higher priced plan can not be applied here as broadband services have dedicated bandwidths under which speeds can not be compromised. This order was challenged by few operators at the TDSAT and only yesterday TDSAT also has over ruled their plea.

One would like to see the telecom sector rise from its depths and regain its lost glory. However there have to be more intelligent and transparent ways to do so. The current postpaid offering seems to have defied both parameters of intelligence and transparency. The postpaid product manager(a forgotten animal)has to re emerge in a newer and sharper avataar and make a new niche and space for this category.

.....till then we shall wait and watch this sector with our fingers crossed.