State Owned Telecom firms MTNL and BSNL had launched 3G facilities a couple of months ago even though the auctions for the private players had been in a quandry. MTNL had launched its services in Mumbai and Delhi while BSNL launched 3G across 14 cities.
Dismal Response To 3G
The response so far to the 3G has been dismal. A total of 3200 subsribers in 2 months at a rate of 125 subscribers a month.
A report by The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had projected that as much as 10% of the 375 million mobile customers would shift to 3G services in the first year itself. At the current rate that number of 37 million looks very unlikely.
Who to blame for 3G Lacklustre Adoption?
Though its still early days one can get the sense that the much hyped 3G may meet a luke warm response and follow through. The blame would be put squarely on the 3G charges which are surely on the higher side. The other dampner could be the fact that the iphone which is probably the best phone for usage of 3G is still at an obscenely high price and out of reach for most. This again reduces the need for 3G as most users who are on any other phone are probably using the phone as an email checking device and not an entertainment device. Hence maybe when touch devices like the iphone get really cheap a need for faster data connectivity would be felt on the mobile.
What about the 3G auctions now?
The DoT was quoted recently as stating that it would be difficult to start 3G auctions before the polls which just means that in another 2 months if the 3G uptake by users still remains dismal then it would surely dampen the upcoming auctions. In anycase a lot of debate on the license fees has been going on and constant delays have been made due to the same.
To me it seems like the 3G auctions are doomed as of now unless by some miracle the the 3G numbers increase and the private players get motivated and gung ho about offering 3G.
Rajiv, I think its a mix of a lot of things.
1. PSU’s got a leg-up in launching 3G but they are not equipped to do that.
2. iPhone 3G is available on Airtel and Vodafone and they don’t yet have the 3G capabilities. Apple should have tied up with BSNL or the spectrum should have been awarded to Airtel.
3. BSNL and MTNL failed to educate its consumers. There is no awareness really when it comes to 3G. There is a bit of skepticism too. GPRS sucks and people might think that 3G will suck too.
4. As you have mentioned are the devices. The price range for a good 3G phone should be 15K – 20K. That is where the maximum market is.
Still early days to call it a failure. Only if the spectrum is given to Reliance, Airtel and IDEA will we know the real demand for 3G.
According to me the price issue played a major role in poor response.
The plans lauched by bsnl and mtnl are very costly and bit weird.
Hi Rajiv,
This blog will give a wake-up call to BSNL officials. Not only 3G, they goofed up with a 2G device called EVDO. The assured speed was up to 2mbps and it worked at 25 kbps downloads, fair enough. The not-so-friendly customer service and the typical government attitude of helpdesk members make most of the public think twice before going for anything to do with BSNL. At least in my city, Bangalore.
I have used the EVDO device and was in trouble on national holidays, nobody seems to be bothered about rectifying the issue during holidays.
I think probably it is because of this attitude BSNL is not able to attract many for 3G.
Two months back, I contacted a very senior official of BSNL to ask him about 3G launch. He was so excited and promised me that he will give me !!! 3G over landline !!! by May 2009. We had a good laugh.
This is the technical realization they have. So how will you expect us to count on them.
But it made me think if they are launching some kind of 3G Modem.
!!! High Hopes !!!
My own experience of 3G out here in lucknow has been a nightmare!incompetent staff and most of the time the 3G tower down adds upto the woes!And as if the service wasnt sucking off enough,the recharge of data plan was disabled on my number and miraculously i was being billed for higher costs of 2G plans while using 3G service.All in all the height of incompetence combined with arrogance and errors is called Bsnl 3G,avoid at all costs.