Its been all great ... but until when?

More than 7 million users a month - July 07, I think. Reasons being - lower price due to high competition, lack of fixed line connection and improved lifestyle for all.

Have you ever seen a regular Hindi movie? Its all good and good and then the boooom .... something goes wrong - villain appears, someone has an accident or an old boyfriend shows up unexpectedly. The theme changes - its now a sad story.

Same will be the story with Indian Telecom! I think the good part is almost finished. The bad guys have made their appearance. The main issue ... Spectrum. Who has it ... Defence Dept. Telecom Ministry has requested, then asked, then ordered that the spectrum be released. But why should they? They have had it for free for as long as they can remember. Now suddenly someone orders the Defence Dept. of the country. Irrelevant is what they have and they need to give. But they are the defenders of the nation and how dare somebody orders them! And given that Defence Dept releases the spectrum, the Telecom Dept does not know how, to whom, when and at what price to sell/auction the spectrum.

Operators are willing to pay for the spectrum needed. They have seen the value. They have made the money and are willing to risk more money.

Who suffers? As always the people - you, me and us. And this case, may be the nation as well. Cell phones have changed the lifestyles of so many from roadside vegetable vendors to freelance cooks to on-the-move CEOs. Connectivity has reached to far off villages who thought talking to anyone in the city meant walking for days to first see then talk. Definitions changed. Talk could happen with small devices, the so called "mobile". Airtel was everywhere. Reliance brought the tariff down. Anyone and everyone could afford a "mobile".

Will operators suffer - Not at all. They invested. Their ROI (return on investment) has been spectacular - way more than what they had anticipated. With no new spectrum, they will squeeze as many users as possible in the given spectrum. They will increase tariff. Hutch and Airtel has already increased SMS prices. Thenafter they will move on. End of the day, they are entrepreneurs who knows how to see the opportunity and make money. They have made enough to finance their next venture. If not telecom, they will do petroleum, steel, retail ... whatever will make them money.

Government - they come and they go. Need I say more?

So, with the lack of spectrum resulting in low voice quality and many dropped calls ... the bad guy has definitely made an impact. Now we got to wait and see if the "hero" - Telecomm India will be able to come up victorious or will it just be great growth story we will tell our kids and grandkids.