Mobile Number Portability: Quality will survive

While mobile number portability would help harassed subscribers to change their operators, for the mobile services providers it will result in high churn of subscribers
Finally, mobile subscribers across the country will be able to keep their 'beloved' number unchanged despite changing their service provider. Following an order by telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), from 31st December onwards, mobile subscribers would be able to change their operators while keeping their number intact. However, according to some media reports, the move may be delayed due to technical issues like network up-gradation.Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows subscribers to retain their existing mobile telephone number when they move from one access provider to another, irrespective of the mobile technology—or from one cellular mobile technology to another of the same access provider—in a licensed service area. This means a CDMA subscriber can opt for other a GSM or CDMA service providers and vice-versa.For subscribers harassed by their current mobile operator, this has come as a blessing. From next year they can simply hang up on their current operator and choose another one—whom they think will provide better services and lower tariffs. However, the subscriber must have stayed with the service provider for at least 90 days before he can transport his number to another service provider. According to the TRAI notification, subscribers changing their services provider will have to pay Rs19 as porting charge to the recipient operator. However, TRAI has said that operators are free to charge any amount lesser than or equal to this charge. This would prove to be another headache for mobile operators, already reeling under pressure due to the tariff war. Many operators may provide this service free in order to increase subscriber base.Although MNP is beneficial for both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers, according to analysts, lower porting charge would give further impetus to prepaid churn. “The TRAI-notified porting charges (PC) is lower than our—and industry—expectations and this would boost higher uptake of MNP among the low average revenues per user (ARPU) segement, mostly prepaid subscribers, leading to higher churn rates than current 4.5%-8.0% per month at least in the short run,” said Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd, in a report.The regulator feels that the facility of retention of existing mobile telephone number despite moving to a new telecom service provider would help in increasing competition between the service providers and act as a catalyst for the service providers to improve their quality of service.This also means that incumbent mobile operators would have to upgrade network quality and customer services which may result in higher capacity expansion and operating expenditure.However, the ongoing tariff war has discouraged fresh investments from operators, except new players, due to longer payback periods. Many incumbent mobile service providers (MSPs) have not only put on hold their expansion plans but have also reduced capacity expansion (capex) provisions.The aggressive launch and lower tariff plans from new entrants are not only snatching away customers but are also hurting the top and bottom line of incumbent MSPs. During the recent quarter, all mobile operators have reported a sharp fall in ARPU and minutes of usage (MOU).Although MNP may prove to be more beneficial for both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers, the question over service quality of almost all mobile operators remains a pertinent one. According to TRAI, during the April-June quarter, the performance of wireless service providers has deteriorated as compared to the previous quarter, in respect of call set-up success rate, call drop rate, response time to the customer for assistance, complaints and percentage of complaints resolved within four weeks.So before being wooed by a lower tariff plan or offer, subscribers going in for MNP need to check with existing subscribers of the new operator about the service and network quality. Of course, the subscriber has got an option to switch back to his original operator, once this 24-hour period gets over, he will have to wait for another 90 days before going in for another switch.

Courtsey -Moneylife.in and SuchetaDalal.com

Unwanted calls, SMS

Despite registering your cell phone with the NDNC registry, many of us continue to receive telemarketers’ calls and SMSes. Is there any respite from this menace?Almost everyone who uses a mobile phone is upset today due to unwanted calls and SMSes from telemarketers. The authorities, particularly the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), have tried to stop this menace by introducing the National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry. However, with the lukewarm response to the NDNC registry, TRAI is now thinking of introducing a ‘Do-Call’ registry. The problem of unwanted calls and SMSes is growing bigger by the day. There really is no escape from this menace; but, I would like to share some ways to reduce it based on my own experience. The first thing, of course, is to register your mobile number with the NDNC registry. Simply type ‘START DND’ and send a free SMS to 1909. You can also call the same number. Your mobile service provider is required to acknowledge the request within 10 days and it is supposed to take effect 45 days from the date of request. If the request goes unheeded beyond the stipulated 45 days and you continue to receive unwanted calls or SMSes, you will have to file a complaint with your service provider, mentioning the call-originating telephone number, date and time of the call and type of the commercial message. Bear in mind that you need to file your complaint within 15 days from the receipt of such a call or SMS. If you receive an unwanted call or SMS from a bank, mobile service provider or an insurance company, you can visit the website www.donotdisturb.in. Register your mobile phone number using the links provided on this site to these entities so that they do not disturb (DND) you again. It takes 45 days for the DND trigger to get activated.Nowadays, your handset is clogged with SMSes prefaced with codes like ID, TM, TA, AT, VK, etc. TRAI has mandated all mobile operators in India to prefix an identification tag before all application-to-peer (A2P) commercial bulk SMSes which would identify the name of the service provider and the location where the SMS originated along with the name of the company sending the SMS. The alpha-numeric identifier is in the form of ‘XY-Z’, where X stands for the code for the service provider and Y for the area of origin of the SMS. Generally, Y should indicate the name of the company; often, it does not. Okay, that was all about the tech part of the menace, but what about the solution? Frankly, there is no single-point solution. First, check if your mobile handset has a facility to blacklist a number. If so, add the number from where you received the call/SMS to the blacklist; your handset will auto-reject the call. But the facility works only for numbers and not for alpha-numeric characters. Second, don’t give your mobile number to any unknown person. Some notorious spammers, like DNAinfoline, usually procure the number data from local mobile shops, so be extra careful when buying a new connection or recharging your pre-paid mobile.Third, all mobile service providers routinely share your number with a lot of value-added service (VAS) providers, like Mauj, Indiagames, Hungama, Soundbuzz and Mobile2win. They keep sending messages which have access and delete options; since the access option always appears first on your mobile screen, it may get activated inadvertently. From April 2009, TRAI has mandated all mobile service providers to offer two keys for subscribing to any VAS, instead of just ‘*’ or ‘9’ as in case of ‘press star to copy hello tune’; but it is hardly effective.The question is: If we can use technology like pressing a key or combination of keys to activate/de-activate VAS services, why can’t it also be used to record and stop unwanted calls or SMSes? The mobile operator can be alerted during a call from a telemarketer by pressing certain keys. Similarly, why can’t we forward the spam SMS to the mobile operator by just pressing a combination key?

Courtsey -Moneylife.in and SuchetaDalal.com

Screen Scene

The world of display screens is witnessing technological advances that can completely transform the way we view TV, surf the Net or use our mobile phone. Here is a preview of things to come...Display screens are now as ubiquitous in our lives as the air we breathe. Whether at home or the workplace, they come in a spoilt-for-choice array of sizes and technologies and are a reliable indicator of the quality and cost of a product.Basically, there are three types of screens we encounter in our day-to-day life, if we categorise them based on usage rather than size or technology: television (TV) screens, personal computer (PC) screens and mobile-phone screens. TV and PC screens are more akin in terms of their size and technology while mobile screens, which are fast outnumbering their TV and PC counterparts, come in smaller sizes, increasingly with more advanced features like touchscreen and biometric capabilities.Display technology has come a long way from the days of black-and-white CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors to super-sized LCD (liquid crystal display) screens, and we are now moving into the era of 3D (three-dimensional) screens. Some of the bigger players have already unveiled prototypes of their 3D display products, and 3D TVs will soon be available for viewers who are willing to shell out $2,000 or more. Broadcasters are also gearing up to air eye-popping footage for their viewers. In Europe, the England vs Wales Six Nations rugby union international scheduled in February at Twickenham will be the first live 3D sporting event. Sky TV is also planning to launch a 3D channel, possibly by May 2010. The only irritant is that you will still need special glasses to watch 3D TV. While TV is poised to go 3D, PC displays are gravitating towards touchscreen technology. A touchscreen display can detect the faintest touch as well as its precise location within the display area. Touchscreen displays are becoming common in mobile handsets.Earlier, software compatibility issues pre-empted the integration of a touchscreen display on PCs, but that problem has been resolved and you can now use a touchscreen display for your PC if it runs on the Windows 7 operating system or the Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6. There are three popular technologies used for touchscreen devices: resistive, capacitive and surface acoustic wave. A resistive system uses two very thin metallic, electrically conductive layers separated by a narrow gap. When the user presses at a point on the display area, the two metallic layers become connected at that particular point, causing a change in electrical current. A special driver on your device (PC or mobile handset) translates this change into bits and bytes that the OS can understand and you get the desired result. On the other hand, a capacitive system consists of an insulator like glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide. When you touch the surface of the screen, a distortion of the local electrostatic field, measured as capacitance, is caused. The capacitance from that particular point is sent to the device and the OS responds accordingly.Capacitive touchscreens are typically used in high-value mobile handsets like Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Nexus One and Motorola’s Droid. There are two advantages of using a capacitive touchscreen. It transmits almost 90% light, so the resultant display is sharper and clearer than in the case of a resistive system which transmits around 75% light. Also, a capacitive screen is more sensitive to touch, so you can just use your finger, while a resistive screen might require the use of a stylus or pen. Falling prices are set to make capacitive touchscreens du jour in mobile handsets.Some other contemporary display technologies that are vying for your eyeballs are plasma, DLP (digital light processing) and OLED (organic light emitting diode). So how should we view the future of display screens? In terms of size, it is safe to say that big and small will co-exist, depending on the application. For instance, 42-inch LCD TVs will eventually edge out the bulky 21-inch CRTs that have been beaming the world into our homes since ages. And with the advent of 3D TV, reality shows will take on a new dimension, and it’s not inconceivable that someday, you may even be a part of your favourite TV show.

Courtsey-Moneylife.in and SuchedaDalal.com

Consolidation of Technologies

The past decade has ushered in a world of multimedia communication through an incredible choice of wired and wireless devices. The coming decade, however, will be dominated by issues of accessibility and compatibility of technologies and devices. For instance, today you need ‘compatible’ hardware to run the latest version of the operating system (OS) from Apple, Inc—the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. And there are limitations to running any other OS, like Windows or Linux, on the same machine.The Internet has provided us with an amazing network of clever humans and fast computers. To use this network to its full potential, we need to improve accessibility. To achieve this, we need devices that are smaller and cheaper and that can provide faster communication and enable better services like healthcare, education and e-governance.Mobile technologies have leapfrogged a couple of ‘generations’ over the past decade. You can set up a video conference on a 3G (third-generation) network and save time and travel costs, but compatibility of devices and technologies remains a major challenge to unleashing the full potential of 3G.Today, when you buy a ‘smartphone’, it comes with a pre-loaded OS. It is not possible to buy a mobile handset and install an OS of your choice. In the not-too-distant future, you can, perhaps, buy Apple's iPhone and install Google’s Android OS or Windows Mobile. This kind of flexibility will radically change the dynamics of the mobile-phone market.The Internet is undoubtedly the biggest invention in centuries and to fully unlock its power, we will need compatible ‘smart’ devices in our homes and workplaces. According to Wikipedia, a smart device is one that is “digital, active, computer networked, user reconfigurable and that can operate to some extent autonomously.” The term can also refer to any computing device that exhibits some properties of ubiquitous computing, including artificial intelligence. Take, for example, a ‘smart fridge’ that can ‘order’ milk and vegetables from your grocer without your intervention. Such refrigerators are already available from companies like Samsung, LG and Whirlpool, but they are currently too expensive for the ‘mass market’.Nanotechnology is also set to become ubiquitous in the next decade. It has the potential to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications in medicine, electronics, etc. Today, there are many products that are sold as ‘nanotech’ devices. However, according to a study by David Berube, funded by the National Science Foundation, much of what is sold in the market as ‘nanotechnology’ is, in fact, a recasting of straightforward materials science, which is leading to a “nanotech industry built solely on selling nanotubes, nanowires, and the like” and that will “end up with a few suppliers selling low-margin products in huge volumes.”Some very innovative technologies have emerged over the past decade that have transformed the way we live and communicate, but there is still much to be done to improve accessibility and compatibility of devices and technologies.

Courtsey- Moneylife.in & SuchetaDalal.com

A Trojan from Nigeria

Recently, the email account (Hotmail) of Kumar Ketkar, editor of Marathi daily Loksatta was hacked into, and the hackers sent out fraudulent mails to his friends and acquaintances asking for money. Fortunately, all these people called him and found out that it was a hoax created by cyber-criminals.
I checked with Mr Ketkar and he told me that he received a mail asking him to verify his name, date of birth and password immediately, failing which his Hotmail account would cease to exist within 48 hours. The overall 'get-up' of this mail looked so authentic that Mr Ketkar innocently gave away his data by clicking on the link. He has been using this email account since 1998 and was even paying $10 per month for usage in the initial days of this email service. For someone like Mr Ketkar, the loss of data and contacts matters more than the loss of his email ID. However, he told me that he may get access to his mail account very soon.
But the point is, I am surprised by the language used in the verification mail sent by the hackers—they are becoming really smarter day by day. Otherwise, how can someone well-learned like Mr Ketkar get fooled so easily? Generally, mails from spammers and hackers have followed similar wordings like signing off with ‘Mr XYZ’, which nobody with some knowledge of manners would use. Also, the hackers used to trick you by inviting you to share their 'fortune' or via an online lottery. (Read more about Nigerian scams, here). But now, I can say that these hackers have become more sophisticated.
The hacking of email accounts and then using them to siphon off money from contacts and selling 'earn-from-home kits' have now become the new modus operandi of criminals. There have been some instances in India where Nigerian hackers befriended some locals and used the contact individual’s bank account to siphon off the money sent by victims.
Carl Leonard, senior manager, Websense Security Labs, had said, “A new wave of scams has emerged using a combination of legitimately bought advertising space, false news stories and the lure of job opportunities with well-known companies. This aggressive campaign, which preys on a population weakened by the economic downturn, demonstrates how cybercrime has moved on from the spotty teenage hacker in his bedroom to a sophisticated business run with all the trimmings.”
According to a recent report by online market research company Juxtconsult, the burgeoning online landscape has a population of 49 million Internet users in India, out of which 44 million use emails and close to 25 million browse the Internet every day. On any given day, AVG, the free antivirus services provider, estimates that around 8 million to 14 million unique users worldwide are exposed to social-engineering scams.
So how can you protect yourself from such scams? There are some very basic, simple steps that you need to take to start with. First, never ever give away any information by clicking on a link. If at all you need to update your personal information on any particular website, do it by typing the default address of the site manually and then proceed to the respective link. Second, use strong passwords (Know how to create robust passwords here) and change them frequently. Ideally, any online password should be more than eight characters long, must contain numeric and special keywords like—!, @,#,$,% etc.
Third, whenever you get some link that asks you to verify your personal information, check the credentials of the link. Copy the link and paste it in your search engine. Most often, you will get necessary information in the first search window—otherwise just delete other words, except the name of that linked site and you may find out whether it’s genuine or fake. I would advise you to use Mozilla Firefox with plug-ins like web of trust (WOT), no scripts and cool previews. With the WOT plug-in, whenever you enter any phrase or word in the Google search window, if the link is genuine or trusted, you will see a green circle on the right side of the link. The colour of the circle changes with the authenticity of the link, so you would know what not to click.
There is one more method, if you can find out the IP address of the link, then simply log into www.maxmind.com that offers geo-location and online fraud prevention services. Here you will know the location of the site, its ISP and the organisation which is using that IP address.
Similarly, you can go to www.scamomatic.com and check the contents of your mail for possible scams.
For those who have received mail asking for help, if you know the mailer, just pick up the phone and call that person, and if you don’t know the mailer, then why bother? Just delete the mail.

Courtsey-Moneylife.in/SuchetaDalal.com

My Problem is... Who Cares?

The recent events related with Mumbai and Maharashtra have left me thinking over my real problems, completely ignored by everyone, including myself.
Does the release of Shah Rukh Khan's movie, the so-called 'rada' (ruckus) created by the Shiv Sena and more importantly, the Indian Premier League (IPL), which kick-started the recent events make any difference to my day-to-day life in Mumbai? Even the fight over Marathi and Hindi... does the common man really care for it? I don’t think so.
Take for example—I, along with a few lakh (65 lakh-70 lakh) people spend about three-four hours every day travelling in an overcrowded local train. Every day, some fellow commuter falls down while getting into a train, some even lose their life. Similarly, those who travel by car and bus have to tackle the daily traffic jams at some bottleneck or signal. This pathetic and tiring travel leaves everyone with little energy to bother about the non-related issues mentioned above. This is the condition of all people from Mumbai, including Marathis and others, whether they travel by local train or any other vehicle. Do you think anyone—the railways, SRK, Shiv Sena or even Rahul Gandhi, who travelled in a Mumbai local during non-peak hours—cares? I have my doubts.
Second, the daily life of common people, particularly those of us staying in Mumbai, has become vulnerable. Nobody can assure Mumbaikars (residents of Mumbai) that he or she will return home intact. Life is always under threat in Mumbai. Most of the times, the threat is from terrorists, but sometimes even political parties do this job (terrorising people) with ease.
However, there is hardly is any security for a common Mumbaikar. Security of cinema theatres is most important for the ruling Congress-NCP state government.
Third, inflation is eating away a major chunk from my earnings and has left me with little or no savings. Everyday, prices of some essential item are going up just like our age, which never declines. Political parties, film heroes or the TRP-crazy media—nobody has the time to look into these problems.
In its recent monetary policy review, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has indicated that sustained increase in food prices is beginning to spill over into other commodities and services as well. While the RBI has pegged GDP growth at 7.2%, agricultural input is likely to decline by 0.2% from last year’s growth of 1.6%. Compare this to the fact that almost 60% of the country's population is dependent on agriculture—which again depends mostly on seasonal rains and still faces challenges like drought and floods—and you have a pitiable scenario.
The agriculture ministry was supposed to boost production of food material through innovative research and development. However, recently, we found the Union minister for agriculture Sharad Pawar in a row over his accurate predictions about sugar and milk prices. We are not averse to price increase, but the real question is, does the farmer who produces sugarcane and supplies milk get his dues? How much share does he actually receive from the hike? No one, including all mentioned above is interested. Everyone—film heroes, political parties and the media—tries to lure the common man for buying, watching and supporting their causes, but nobody really cares for his daily worries and struggle to survive.
As far as the recent ruckus over non-issues is concerned, this is nothing but the race to survive. Shah Rukh Khan wants to prove that he is a bigger star and his movie can earn more than his (rival?) Aamir Khan’s '3Idiots'. Shiv Sena, caught up in a drowning syndrome—courtesy Raj Thackeray—is trying to stay afloat while keeping its herd intact. The Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra feels that 'All Iz Well' and there is no need to bother to look into the common man's woes, since there is no election in the near term. At the national level, the Congress thinks it can make inroads into Bihar and Uttar Pradesh by raising Mumbai and migration issues.
So keep smiling, do not worry, as nobody has time to care for you and me. If you think there is some energy, or a spark left in you, then shout loudly "All Iz Well".
By the way, do you remember a movie called 'Deshdrohi' that was banned by the Maharashtra government? I watched it on You Tube... and couldn’t stop laughing. It was hilarious. It is a readymade and perfect guidebook for any newbie on how not to make a movie!

Courtsey- Moneylife.in/SuchetaDalal.com