Telecom. vs. Telecomm.

Both refer to Telecommunications. But which one is correct? Dictionary.com has an entry for Telecom that gives a link to Telecommunications whereas oed.com [Oxford English Dictionary] says Telecomm is the abbreviation for Telecommunications. So, I guess telecom is American slang and telecomm is British slang!

Now an interesting question is which one is more commonly used in India? Indian Telecomm or Indian Telecom or Indian Telecommunications?

A Google with Telecom India or Indian Telecom gives more relevant sites like the Dept. of Telecommunications, India. Indian Telecommunications also gives some sites. But Telecomm India gives more links to exhibitions and events like Telecomm India 2007. What can be concluded is Telecom is more commonly or freely used by government authorities. Google suggests telecom if you search with telecomm. Hey, it wasn't a spelling mistake!

What do you think should be more commonly used?

Indian Teledensity 15.41

Today, the TRAI (Telecomm Regulatory Authority of India) released a press release on the quarterly performance indicators of Telecomm services. Had most of the Indian telecomm statistics. And what could be a better start for my Telecomm India.

Some statistics:
The teledensity in the year ending Sept. 2006 was 15.41 registering a growth of 48.75% as compared to Sept. 2005. The gross subscriber base (fixed and wireless) reached 170.02 million with 129.54 million wireless subscribers. Number of PCOs are 5.15 million and VPTs are 0.55 million covering 86% of the 0.61 million villages in India.

The all India blended ARPU per month for GSM (CDMA) services has declined to Rs. 337 (Rs. 215). The all India average subscriber outgo per minute (rental+airtime revenue) for GSM is Rs. 1.45 and that for CDMA is Rs. 1.05.

Internet subscriber registered an annual growth of 31.64% and stood at 8.08 Million. 1.82 million users are the so called broadband users (>256 kbps). The average minute of use per user per month for dial up Internet is 185 minutes (down 5minutes from the previous quarter). Revenue per user per month for dial up was Rs. 220.

Read the full press release at the TRAI website.
http://www.trai.gov.in/trai/upload/PressReleases/422/pr17jan07no9.pdf

Its all happening in India!

"Indian Telecom market is booming." These are not my words. But I do not remember whoall have said this. Be it a new engineer, a veteran in the field or an investor - everyone wants to benefit from the Indian Telecom boom. The boom that is happening now. Today. Newspapers have a lot to say. People have a lot to say. Internet has a lot to say. New regulations. New laws. New subscribers. India today is one of the few markets where the subscriber growth is tremendous. Most of Europe, North America and even Asian markets like Japan and South Korea are saturated. India is growing. Mobile - the general term used for a mobile terminal or a cell phone - is still a status symbol for some who can afford to buy the latest smart phones. Mobile is a means of communications for many low income people like drivers, sweepers, and even sabjiwalas (vegetable vendors who walk around in residential areas with a small cart with veges - basically a mobile vegetable store). When you hire a new driver, you do not ask if he has a phone (he doesn't!) but you ask, "Do you have a mobile?" and 90% chances are that he does. Government is thinking of giving connectivity to the rural India with some form of wireless technology. Various telcos (telecommunications companys) from all over the world are increasing their presence in India. They want to be noticed. They want to get a piece of the Indian telecom pie. Startups are emerging. Inverstors are investing. Its all happening in India!

I am an engineer with a phd in wireless communications from Japan. I worked in the Silicon Valley [San Jose, USA] for some time for a telco! And these days I am in India. I have a fair understanding of the telecommunications technologies. I know the who and what behind words like GSM, CDMA, 3G, .11, IEEE802, WiMax .... So, I decided to blog about Telecommunications in India.

I know a few things. But I do not know many things. Please give your comments to help me improve. If there is anything specific that you want to read about or know about, do let me know and I will do my best to find answers. You can reach me at telecommindia at gmail dot com.

Happy reading!