Like many other developing nations, India could use a good dose of improved telecommunications:
"Many, many people in India have never heard a dial tone," so they jump at the chance for cellular service once it reaches their small town or village, says Manoj Kohli, president of Bharti Airtel Ltd., the largest Indian cellphone company in terms of numbers of subscribers.But there's a problem: the legacy state-run companies are working hard to block any competition:
"This is the part causing the most grief," said S.P. Shukla, president of the wireless division at Reliance Communications Ltd., referring to carrier-connectivity problems. "When it comes to making a call go through on another network you need a point of interconnection. If you are on one side of the river and someone is on the other side, you need a bridge."And the state-run companies are apparently exploiting this to the fullest possible extent; for example, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., a legacy company that controls many of the landlines, isn't providing sufficient or timely connections:
Analysts say the reason is a combination of BSNL being a slow state-run company and its desire to thwart the advance of private-sector competitors.If you've read the book, you'll recall a series of similar problems here in the US as companies attempt to freeze their competitors out of the marketplace and prevent disaggregation of service; none of these companies welcome the competition and cost reduction that's subsequent to disaggregation. Sometimes the companies lose in court or in the marketplace — but when it's a state-run company or a company propped up by state regulators, such as telecommunications companies here in the US or in India, they often succeed.
Topics: · government · society · telecommunications
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