TRAI’s SMS Regulation & The Deferred Information Era
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to go ahead with its regulation on 100 SMS/SIM/DAY. After months of postponing the implementation, this regulation comes into effect from 27th September 2011. A huge segment of the mobile users are anticipating that this will result in reduction in the spam SMS that they receive.
Well, not true. This regulation implies that the number of outgoing SMS per day per SIM is limited to 100. But that does not protect the subscribers from being spammed. The spam SMS will eventually reach you. This regulation does not mean that our numbers are struck off from the telemarketers list. The National Do-Not-Disturb registry served this purpose. But with TRAI deciding to decentralize it to each Telecom Service Provider, we all know its effectiveness.
Some suggest that telemarketers can buy additional SIM cards to increase the audience that can be reached in a day. How this results in increased revenue for Telecom Service Providers is a conspiracy theory of this regulation. But then this will result in the organizations losing their marketing charm. Imagine having 92-FACECOMM, 92-FACELIKE, 92-FACESTAT instead of the existing number 92-FACEBOOK for all the status updates, comments & likes!
TRAI already has provisions so that mobile users can subscribe to a segment of telemarketers using National Customer Preference Register (instead of the flawed blanket DND). So if you want to receive SMS alerts from your bank on ATM Cash withdrawals, you can select category 1 of this NCPR i.e. Banks/Insurance/Financial Products/Credit Cards and let the floodgates open! And we are anticipating that, even if you are subscribed, an alert for an ATM transaction done at 9.01 PM will be received only at 9 AM the next morning. This is because the regulations lays out that organizations can send SMS only between 9AM to 9PM. This is the deferred information era.
There will be tremendous disappointment among the student fraternity who make use of free SMS subscriptions to alert their classmates for changes in any lecture schedules. A similar resentment was shown by schools and parent in Delhi who used SMS alerts for notifications#. There is also an outrage on the restriction being implied on end-users sending to limit to 100 SMS per day, the resulting loss of democracy and that later might be a regulation for maximum number of minutes in a call!
Bulk SMS providers have said that the regulations will push down their profit margins. They are also critical of the National Customer Preference Register data which TRAI allows them to download every Tuesday & Friday. They claim that the site is unavailable on these very days leading in delivery of a message to a recently subscribed NCPR user##. Remember, SMS marketing is a tool for those in this business. So TRAI should ensure that such businesses are not affected.
Your bank transactions and lecture schedule alerts can all land in your emails. Although emails are real-time, they are no good when compared to the ‘in-your-pocket’ service of SMS. Moreover, be it SMS or Email, utilization of data bandwidth of Telecom Service Providers will be same, if not more. So if TRAI has an argument of reduction in bandwidth of Telecom Service Providers it is hereby invalidated.
On A Different Note, here is the solution
- Make a clear demarcation in the regulation for Pull (Solicited) SMS and Push (Unsolicited) SMS. Push SMS are the ones that are SPAM while Pull SMS are user driven – ATM Transaction notification, delivery of courier, etc.
- Make a limit on the number of calls that telemarketers make. After all, the beep of a SMS is harmless when compared to relentless calling by telemarketers.
- Allow mobile users to individually subscribe to an agency of their choice.
- Whenever a subscriber signs up for a SMS service or for a service with is mobile number, alert him on the immediatly on how the number will be used by them and their ‘channel partners’. This should be implied when people vote for TV game shows as well.
Public Interest Litigation, anyone?
Sources
# – http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/Trai-s-100-SMS-limit-irks-schools-parents/Article1-750516.aspx
## – http://www.medianama.com/2011/09/223-what-mobile-marketing-sms-cos-think-of-trais-sms-spam-regulations/
Why Paying Bills Before Their Due Dates Is Not Good For The Economy?
Find yourself sitting with a list of bills, scrambling between browser tabs of service provider’s websites and their payment gateways the day you get a bill or much before the due date? Its time you realize you are harming the economy.
Paying your bills much before the deadline gives your service provider an early hold of the much needed capital. This ‘early’ capital gives them a false sense of buying power and inflates the ‘Economic Bubble’1.
For example, in Bharti Airtel’s Mumbai circle, the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is Rs. 206.65 on a subscriber base of 33,57,185 from mobile services as per 2011 Quarter 2 report published by COAI2. For brevity, let us assume the monthly revenue of Bharti from Mumbai Circle to be Rs. 70 Crores. Bharti expects this money by the last bill payment due date (say 21st of each month). An empathetic approach forces me to assume that Bharti will receive only 90% of this figure as 5% may default and 5% may use a credit card to make payment. Let’s discuss on this 10% a little later in this post.
So Rs. 63 Crores is what Bharti actually expects on 21st of each month. I would like to believe a majority of its strategic and buying decisions are based on this income. (Also, of course, on the capital raised from loans) Imagine getting maximum of this money by 17th of each month. This will result Bharti in having a sense of inflated buying power resulting in making some business decisions well before what is planned. Because of this Bharti will not assume a higher buying power and inflate the economic bubble but also pre-pone its business decisions and tend to cause misallocation of resources into non-optimal uses; this forms the basis of Austrian Business Cycle theory2 and may affect the competition in telecom sector and the economy on a whole.
Hope you would appreciate the idea of making an on-time payment. But does this mean to pin down a service provider you should default on the payment?!
On A Different Note, let me now put forth my analysis of the 10% – the first 5% – the defaulters. These defaulters are charged a late payment fee of Rs. 75 (for not aiding the company in assuming its complete buying power). This leads to an increase in ARPU from Rs. 206.65 to Rs. 281.65 for 167860 users which in turn results an increase of revenue by 36% from such defaulters! The remaining 5% who pay by credit card (before or after the due date) simply aggravate the ‘Credit Bubble’.
Unable to comprehend?! I will put it in simpler terms – Why not have more money in your bank account and enjoy a better interest rate?!
So defer paying your bills till the due date! Save the economy!
References & External Links:
- Q2 2011 ARPU statistics for India published by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) – http://www.coai.com/revenue.php
- Economic Bubble & Austrian Business Cycle Theory – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble
Disclaimers:
- Use of ‘Bharti Airtel’ in this post is to aid the readers understand the concept and is used for no other purposes.
- ARPU data obtained from COAI’s website. Distribution of bill payers is assumed.
This post is not intended to harness more support into the already big movement that Anna Hazare has created against corruption. In a nation inspired by symbolic gestures like candle vigils shown in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti and the people overwhelmed by India’s World Cup sure could pull off a ‘do-good’ movement like this. Funny, how a nation backed the entire team for The World Cup that was 28 years in the beckoning and how the Lokpal Bill (or movement?) could not gather support (or agitation) for the last 42 years.
Anna Hazare’s intention is noble and deserves respect for the way he has time and over thought about the society; Every news channel and social networking was trending with ‘Anna Hazare’. And then these things reached my timelines and everyone was ‘liking’ and ‘re-tweeting’ everything that had Anna Hazare in it. Soon, Anna Hazare began trending on Twitter as well as all parts of the country. (Notably, everything including Poonam Pandey has trended on Twitter, but not Wikileaks when it had its time1!
Everyone is posting something or changing their profile pictures to show ‘support’. One Farhan Siddiqui’s (@Farrenhite) tweet read – ‘Clicking on ‘LIKE’ , ‘RETWEET’ & ‘SHARE’ while sitting in AC offices/ rooms & thinking we’re participating in a huge revolution’. Seriously, but how can someone support Anna’s movement from the ease of their offices, blackberrys or by attending candle light or even hunger strikes for that matter?
The question is not about supporting the movement but about working towards curbing corruption. Well, are only people in power corrupt? People in general like to a take a dig at all politicians that are around. Even Oxford English Dictionary2 puts corruption as ‘dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery’! The same country which cheered for Sharad Pawar for organizing a spectacular World Cup did not step back while booing him off when he stepped down from the GoM set to draft the Lokpal bill. All corrupt politicians stepping down – will this eliminate corruption? Theories are already making rounds how much powers will the Lokyukta hold. And what if the Lokayukta corrupts itself?
Would their resignations stop you from instigating corruption? Yes, you my people, hold a larger share than the netas in accommodating corruption. How often have you bribed a traffic cop? And just how often was he the first to initiate the ‘negotiations’? Would you not stash a bundle when a hospital is turning away your ailing kin? Oh and would you stop the torrents or the music downloads happening behind this window right at this moment? Would you? How often have we boasted about the story when you got away from a traffic cop or a ticket checker by just paying him Rs. 20?
On A Different Note, the government has not been shying away from measures to offer better governance and services to the common man. Did you know that every governmental department has a Citizen’s Charter3 that outlines how someone can get in touch with its officials and how to seek a remedy if something goes wrong? Some states like Bihar have gone forward and drafted the Right To Services4 bill wherein each department will define timelines that will be taken for each activity. (eg. issuing passport); and if this timeline is not met, then citizens have a right to seek explanation. Makes you wonder if this is more effective than the Lokpal bill? And about having public participation in drafting the Lokpal bill – well, did you know you can send your suggestions to drafts of bills discussed in the house5?
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- Can You Say No to Corruption?
Corruption in an aspect is dishonesty – towards one’s duties, towards one’s country, towards progress. But people worldwide have failed to acknowledge that corruption is not a top-driven malice alone – it is equally supported by us. Of course, the people at the top enjoy the ‘fortune at the bottom of the pyramid’.
But can we say no to corruption?
Honestly, I can’t.
India ranks 87th in Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International’s 2010 survey; above Mexico (Rank 98) and Russia (Rank157)6.
| Long Term Antidote
A bill or any Samaritan like Hazare cannot take away corruption from a country. Lokyukta or any other panel will alone not be sufficient to address people’s complaints against corruption. |
External Links
- Twitter Explaining while Wikileaks did not trend – Mashable.com: http://mashable.com/2010/12/08/twitter-wikileaks-trending-explanation/
- Online Oxford English Dictionary: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0181740#m_en_gb0181740
- Meaning of Citizens Charter – Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances http://goicharters.nic.in/
- Draft of Bihar’s Right To Services Bill: http://gad.bih.nic.in/RTSBill.htm
- Rajya Sabha’s page seeking opinion/suggestions from public: http://164.100.47.5/newsite/press_release/bill_committee.aspx
- Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions 2010 Survey Results: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results
Travel Diary: Chandigarh
Chandigarh is one of the very few planned cities that India has – crisp roads cutting squares across the sectors, every block having a sector number – and no statues or any roads/junctions named after politicians. (Due to this people cant help it but refer to places such as ‘Matka’ Chowk and ‘Phowara’ Chowk). This is one of those northen cities where you come to terms with the words – ‘Winter’ & ‘Fashion’. But mind you, the latter is irrespective of the former! Being a small city (~100 sq kms), you can reach from one end to the other in a little under 30 mins. The Sukhna Lake is a serene water body and a major attraction of Chandigarh. You can take a boat ride and paddle along with the ducks there. A 15-minute walk further down the road from Sukhna Lake is the Rock Garden – a winding maze showcasing the stone sculptures. The traffic islands here are so huge that an entire town hall can be built atop. Being from Mumbai, so ‘unplanned’ I would say! You could take a walk on the clean promenades that are on banks of all roads. But mind you, very rarely will you come across a person on foot because people seldom walk here. You could even Dial-a-rickshaw here. It might baffle you to know that rickshaws are also referred as ‘tuk-tuks’ here!
The northern cuisine that I have had is by far from what I have heard of. Located in Sector 9, Backpacker’s Café is a good place to have continental food. A few steps away, is the famous Nik Bakers – a place to have good deserts and snacks.
Chandigarh is flanked by Mohali & Panchkula which together are known as Tricity. This ‘city’ is a Union Territory, so expect all the ‘fringes’ you have heard of UTs! The city was planned on the Corbusian principles by the great man himself and does not have a Sector 13, as the number was considered unlucky by the planner. Many newcomers here fall prey to the ‘Meet me at Sector 13’ joke!
Quick Trivia – For a majority of the sectors, if you sum up the sector numbers of adjoining East & West sectors, the sum is divisible by 13!
Rock Garden, Chandigarh
Sukhana Lake, Chandigarh
A duck paddling along at Sukhana Lake, Chandigarh
Last Sunday, I happened to read a copy of Sunday Business Standard. An article by one Shehan Karunatilaka – a Sri Lankan writer caught my attention – and lead to this post. His views on IPL were a bit amusing. Through this post, I wish to counter the opinions he expressed in the article. This is the link to the article on BS’s website – . And I recommend you to read the article first to truly make understand this post.
Firstly, its strange (if not anything else) that a south-east Asian and that too a Gratiaen Award Winner saw IPL for the first time few weeks back. From what one can draw from your article, you have been following teams which have been in the news – Newcastle United (of the motion picture ‘Goal’ fame) & of course your own national cricket team. Then how come you missed out on what some like to call it as – an over-hyped this tournament? As a matter of fact, when Tiger Woods returned to his swinging best in the recently held Augusta Cup, he attracted an audience that was expected to be second only to Obama’s inauguration speech including TV viewership & ground audience. I can safely bet the turnout was on account of the hype. Hard to believe you missed IPL’s 2nd edition which was in the news for being shifted to South Africa due to some unavoidable circumstances?! Strange that you had your chance to see the matches in only its third season!
You belong to one of the cricket-frenzy South-East Asian countries, and still you didn’t get a chance to see any of the 100+ matches over 3 seasons?
I am not trying to say that people world over should be following this tournament, everyone can have their differences – Individuals and even a country as a whole.
Let me run a check why people world over are not associating with IPL:
Pakistan: Hostile relations with India saw no Pakistani player selected for this season. And being another South-East Asian country MAD after cricket, they audibly protested and even went ahead to implement a nation-wide ban on the transmission of IPL 3 (SetMax).
Australia: The 5 and a half hour time difference, never won the popularity for IPL in that country
UK and other states of EU: IPL clashes with the climax of EPL fixtures
And the last time I checked not only was Sri Lanka in the same time zone as 
India, but IPL also has many Sri Lankan players, with Jayawardene captaining one of the 8 teams. I am rather forced to think that the Sri Lankan media and Rupavahini (SriLankan National TV channel) is not covering IPL too well and that too with a respectable tally of Man-of-the-Match (MoM) awards won by Sri Lankans. Maybe they are busy promoting your national sport – volleyball!
But much to delight of the IPL fans, the very same news paper that carried your article, also featured a news item that said the boycott of SetMax was taken off or atleast subdued in Pakistan. Also, the Australian cricket fraternity is following this tournament closely to spot players for their next domestic T20 season.
Oddly, you have also criticized the Ads that are being shown during the bowling run-ups and the strategic timeouts. To your sanity, a similar theory was posted by cricinfo.com (FYI: it’s a portal for cricket live scores and analysis, acquired by ESPN) – that the strategic timeout concept was introduced by the AD agencies/sponsors to further cash on the tournament. You tend to criticize this concept – makes me draw that you like SEE-ing the occasional running up of the captain to the bowler, while is walking back, to discuss tactics. I never ever got to HEAR any of the tactics though. You also seem to have a liking to see the team huddled up discussing strategies. If something worthwhile happens during the strategic breaks, the channels do air them – they are not mean!
Following excerpts in the article caught my attention:
“That their allegiances were only shirt-deep and would last as long as their contracts.”
The same happens in EPL and other similar tournaments, where the bonding is only contract-deep. In fact, EPL sees contracts getting over and a player playing for a 2 different teams in the same tournament. So much for loyalty!
“Was it because of Mahela’s century failed to raise my heartbeat, unlike that Aravinda de Silva ton in ’86 which actually giving me an erection. (It should be noted that such things are easier to come by at age 13 than they are at 35.)”
Surprising to know that Aravinda de Silva’s ton gave you an erection when you were 13. But unfortunately with De Silva no longer playing and your 35 years of existence you are losing it out.
You happen to be a noteworthy writer, I suppose, with an award up your sleeve. Its very surprising to know of your strange views and the metaphorical comparison of IPL with erections and sex! ON A DIFFERENT NOTE, I tend to believe that the article is a publicity stunt for your forthcoming book.
Why none of the Mumbai Indian bowlers should be proud to be in the race for the Purple Cap?
Mumbai Indians – The team that has bowled out cities, set new records and broken them over has taken the Indian Premier League – Season 3 by storm. MI is on a winning spree this season. With half of the qualifying matches already played, MI seems set for a sure spot in the semi-finals.
This streak is owed to the new formation, who have found match winners or at times match savers in the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rayyadu, Saurabh Tiwari, Pollard, Harbhajan Singh & of course – Sachin Tendulkar. Boundaries have been hit, runs have been piled up and many records have been set and broken. What is unique to the IPL is its Orange & Purple Cap performers. After the 8th game of MI (33rd of IPL3), Lasith Malinga MI’s strike bowler has managed to reach number 3 spot in the Purple Cap standings. Ideally, Lasith Malinga and the entire Mumbai Indians camp will be glad about this. But this should also be seen as a sign of worry. MI has a strong line-up of pacers – Zaheer Khan, Ryan McLaren & Malinga along with the spinner – Harbhajan Singh and Bravo & Pollard who manage to knock-off a few. With such a bowling line-up, the cause of worry is when one of the bowlers manages to come in the top-5 of the overall leading wicket takers.
Suppose Malinga manges 2-3 wickets in an innings, the rest of the bowlers are left with little to bowl out. Or the quality of opposition batsmen they have to bowl out will be anything in between the extremes of Kallis and Mishra. Often they might fail to deliver against key players; enforcing an invisible veiled view questioning the performance and form of this players. Bravo cannot always bowl out Symonds. And if Lasith Malinga fails to deliver, the responsibility lies with the rest of the bowlers. Now these bowlers may not have been necessarily exposed to a good opposition batsman every time as – Malinga might have already plucked their wicket!
This phenomenon becomes more or less like the ‘Single-Point-Of-Failure’ effect in network devices where if a single firewall/router fails, the rest of 
the devices may not be in position to ensure stable network operation. Similar is the case with the Orange Cap – the recognition for the highest run scorer. If a lone batsman scores the maximum (and stays in crease) for most of the overs, the middle and lower middle order batsmen get very few and crucial overs. And they are expected to deliver quickly without getting a chance to settle and learn what is known as the ‘turn-and-bounce’ of the wicket.
Mi has managed to hold the fort strongly for the first 8 games now and seem almost unstoppable. But if the ‘star’ players keep performing well, the others will get little chance or experience on the pitch. And no one knows when the other ‘key’ players would be required to perform. It will be difficult when MI wants them to perform deeper into the tournament without giving enough chances initially. This case also holds true for other teams contending for a spot in the finals. Of course, there shouldn’t be any worries if the star players deliver in every match.
An average Indian essentially comes to birth with the skill-set of a Cricket Expert. Discussing, giving opinions and criticizing cricket is what we often indulge into. I am just another average Indian, giving my ‘expert’ opinion on cricket On A Different Note!
Earth Hour 2010: Saving or Postponing Energy Consumption?
So its 27th March, the day of Earth Hour, tomorrow. A global campaign started by WWF. Started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia this movement has created waves and really managed to stir the ‘save-your-planet’ 
cords of mankind. WWF’s national bodies have been urging citizens of the respective countries to participate for the cause. People who register at their website even stand a chance to win a 3KW Solar Power System for domestic use! In 2008, the second year of this movement, 400 cities across 35 countries participated in this movement. The figure, reached to whooping 4000 cities and 88 countries in 2009. And this year more 121 countries have pledged their support for this cause.
In India, the last Earth Hour saw around 5 million Indians switching off the electricity in hour. Corporate organizations also joined in along with the National Monuments and 5 star hotels in support. In the Delhi, the capital city of India – a close to 750 MW of electricity was saved during Earth Hour 2009.
But I wonder if it is really 100% effective. By switching off electricity for 1 hour, we are only ‘postponing’ the usage of electricity for 1 hour. Yes, postponing. Read more…
