Reliance, TATA, Airtel Retarding Broadband Internet growth in India?

Are the three BIGGEST Telecom giants in India who are blinded by their short term company revenues are the real perpetrators of retarding the Growth of Broadband Internet in India?


Premise: Reliance Communication, Bharti Airtel and Tata Indicom all three are offering their wireless datacards for laptops and PCs. These datacards offer various connectivity speeds. However, it's very apparent that the bad wireless infrastructures, poor dataspeeds and over all un-satisfactory customer service is retarding and shooing away the customers from Internet. People get a very poor user experience and the overall confidence in the online media as the main stream media gets distorted completely. Day-by-day poor online experiences just adds to the frustation of new and existing users and end up making people anti-online. What could become as one of the biggest strength of India in uniting and bringing education and more jobs to the country may just go down the drain if appropriate steps are not taken.

A country like India where people plan months ago to buy their next gadget and save money meticulously and buy their dream gadget get fooled by buying such stupid datacards for better Internet connectivity.

The Proof: The Internet by its own nature of bringing the Voice of each customer to one common platform shows the PROOF of pathetic service, speed and connectivity issues which came along with these Wireless Data Cards from Reliance, Airtel and Tata Indicom.

Mouthshut.com an Online user generated content company which provides a platform to Indian users to post their personal experiences in terms of product reviews is just filled with BAD reviews about all these three service providers.

Reviews on Reliance Wireless Data Cards
Reviews on TATA Indicom Wireless Data Cards and USB Modems
Reviews on Bharti Airtel Wireless Data Cards and USB Modems

If this isin't proof enough, do a simple google search and over 50,000 review related search results will show up...mostly people crying out loud at the bad service or drivers or connectivity and bad user experiences.

Strategic Flaw or The Time is not right?
Well a lot of top honchos sitting in those top management plush seats would want to argue that this is not a strategic fault and they do offer Broadband Internet services but people are not ready to take those services up. Well obviously if you produce those stupid Datacards in BULK and push them through a marketing plan, people are bound to get driven. However, it's a SHORT term retarding growth strategy for overall Internet Adoption Strategy for the country. In a way the Datacards and USB modems etc are detrimental to the growth of the Internet adoption and widespread in India. And the best part is both Broadband and datacards are coming from the same Telecom company (Irony Simplified)!

When over 4 Millions users have adopted broadband internet (refer to TRAI report, July-08) there are very few reasons why others wouldn't want to adopt it. The reason (primarily) is high bandwidth cost and lesser education and awareness. Well if you have to shell out Rs 999 per month to get a decent broadband connectivity per month, obviously you are discouraging people from adopting Internet. When Mobile recharges come in small pre-paid values, why don't we allow the users to have low cost flexibility for a LONG Term Internet penetration and growth in country.

Conclusion: The short term revenues of organizations which are blinding them for providing poor infrastructure and bad connectivity should be overcome quickly. The Broadband Internet services should be provided at cheaper rates fueling the Internet demand in India. Improvement of Wireless Broadband, Cost reduction and better infastructure can really contribute to the fast paced growth. Public Private Partnership based Awareness and Education sessions to masses about the benefits of internet should be conducted to help promote the Internet growth in India.

Online Games Are Recession Proof

Here is an interesting article from Christopher Cummings of Dailygame.net

All year long, journalists, bloggers and various analystsYes! No! Maybe! have wondered, "Are games recession-proof?" The consensus seems to be:

DFC analyst David Cole puts it best, noting that the fizzling economy doesn't appear to be affecting game software sales. "Consumer spending on software is at record levels," he says, "and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession, because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment."

If you go back to the Depression, obviously times were tough -- even tougher than they are today -- but people still needed to be entertained. They needed to escape their everyday lives and forget their problems. So what did they do? They went to the movies, read books, listened to the radio, played card and board games. They did everything we do today, and they had to do it cheaply, because money was in short supply.

Know something that's not in short supply? Computers. I know, I know, you probably don't even consider the PC a viable game platform since everyone knows the PC as a gaming platform is dead. Except, it's really not -- and that could be gaming's great salvation during these tough economic times.

The PC Gaming Alliance estimates there are 263 million online PC gamers. And according to DFC's new Online Game Market Forecasts report, PC online game revenue alone passed $7 billion in 2007, not including retail sales. Total PC game revenue is expected to reach $19 billion by 2013. Those are impressive figures for a "dead" gaming platform, and they add an exciting wrinkle to the question of games being recession-proof.

As times toughen economically, will consumers continue to shell out $30 to $60 for a console game? Will they back off the higher-priced games in favor of budget-oriented Wii titles? Or will they fire up the PC to play free casual games online?

Of course, there's a very real danger that shrinking consumer spending will affect advertising buys, which will negatively impact the free casual games market, which is largely ad-supported. However, while ad spending may slide in TV and the offline world, analysts predict inexpensive media types, such as the Internet, will weather this economic downturn relatively well. So maybe free online games aren't such a bad place to be, for consumers or for game developers/publishers.

My money, as always, is on online bingo. If you have a few minutes to kill, why wouldn't you go online, play a free game that you know with people you like, and try to win a few bucks? As gas prices rocket up and down, and the stock market sits and spins, family night with Dickie the Bingo Caller looks better and better.

Games24x7.com launches New Jhatpat Online Tournaments for Real Cash prizes!

Exciting new Indian online games group www.games24x7.com has announced the launch of its New Jhatpat Tournaments in Online Rummy and Online Chess. Though fairly innovative online gaming models have made their way into the Indian market in recent times, there is none yet to match the latest entrant www.games24x7.com.

www.games24x7.com offers exciting fun filled skill based competitive gaming. They have added two very unique dimensions to the space of competitive gaming. First, all their games are played in a knock-out tournament format adding a level of excitement to online games not yet seen in the Indian space. Even more significantly, they are the first and only online games site to offer and payout real cash prizes to their tournament winners.

Recently they launched an online real cash tournament campaign called Jhatpat Tournaments. These tournaments were launched with a Jhatpat Tournament funny teaser Video, 1 the day before and received an over whelming response.

Details about JHATPAT Tournaments – With these tournaments, www.games24x7.com have launched what can only be summarized as a “cash prizes to all” campaign. Jhatpat tournaments are fun and fast-paced competitions with real cash prizes paid out and No Entry Fee! Tournaments are offered on a daily basis at pre-fixed times with registration for these tournaments often closing in seconds. There are over 100 Jhatpat Tournaments a month with up to Rs. 30000 in cash prizes offered every week.

At www.games24x7.com, in addition to cash prizes in the daily free online rummy tournaments and free online chess tournaments, top players qualify for the weekend MEGA Tournament with Rs 10000/- in cash prizes. In sum, over Rs. 1.5 Lakhs is being given out in cash prizes in the Jhatpat tournaments and the best part is there are no entry fees! Keep on competing! Keep on Winning real cash prizes!1 m

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Games24x7.com is an Indian online games start-up, founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM backgrounds, who have seen both eastern and western cultures are bringing the competitive spirit to win cash prizes in local Indian games to the masses. Games24x7.com is India’s first and only online games company to run daily skill based competitive tournaments with real cash prizes in online rummy and online chess.

Why India is stiill a Developing Nation?

Modern twist to an old tale

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
-Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
-Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
-Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
-Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
-The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .
-Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
-CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
-Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
-Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
-Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.
Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.
AND.... As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,
India is still a developing country!!!

List of Winners for ICA Chess Championship 2008

List of Winners for ICA Chess Championship 2008 organized by www.games24x7.com and Innovator's Chess Academy.



ICA Open Chess Championship Winners

1st Place Rahul Shandilya (5.5 pts)

2nd Place K.V.Sripad (5.5 pts)

3rd Place R.Nagesh (5 pts)

4th Place Prachura P.P (5 pts)

5th Place Vinod V (5.5 pts)

ICA Under 7 Chess Championship (Boys) Winners

1st Place: Vasishta (7 pts)

2nd Place: Avinash Raj (6 pts)

3rd Place: J Ashwin (5.5 pts)

4th Place: Prajwal Shet (5 pts)

ICA Under 7 Chess Championship (Girls) Winners

1st Place: Ojasi Gopikrishna (4 pts)

2nd Place: Sai Bhavana (3 pts)

3rd Place: Tanisha Dighe (2 pts)

4th Place: Smrithi Suresh (2 pts)

5th Place: Pritha Jaipal (2 pts)

ICA Under 9 Chess Championship (Boys) Winners

1st Place: L.S.Prabhanjan (6 pts)

2nd Place: Dushyanth Raju (5 pts)

3rd Place: Sanjeev (5 pts)

4th Place: T.Vikas (5 pts)

5th Place: Sachin Jajoo (5 pts)

ICA Under 9 Chess Championship (Girls) Winners

1st Place: Prannita (6 pts)

2nd Place: Sharanya (5 pts)

3rd Place: Hanan Rouf (5 pts)

4th Place: H.K.Aditi (4.5 pts)

5th Place: Srishti Moorthy (4 pts)

ICA Under 11 Chess Championship (Boys) Winners

1st Place: Arjun Govind (6 pts)

2nd Place: L Manas (5.5 pts)

3rd Place: Vijeth T.A.(5 pts)

4th Place: Chirag Ramesh (5 pts)

5th Place: R Parthasarathy (5 pts)

ICA Under 11 Chess Championship (Girls) Winners

1st Place: T C Meghana (4 pts)

2nd Place: V Srilakshmi (3 pts)

3rd Place: Priyanka Bharadwaj (3 pts)

4th Place: Namratha G.M. (3 pts)

5th Place: Amrita Narayan (2.5 pts)

ICA Under 13 Chess Championship Winners

1st Place: Sudhanshu Nath Mishra (5.5 pts)

2nd Place: Goutham S (5 pts)

3rd Place: Srikanth S (5 pts)

4th Place: V Uttej (5 pts)

5th Place: Sindhu Shekar (4.5 pts), Girls 1st Place

ICA Under 15 Chess Championship Winners

1st Place: Augustine (4 pts)

2nd Place: K.S.Harikrishna (3 pts)

3rd Place: B S Swarnesh Rao (3 pts)

4th Place: Pallavi Bharadwaj (3 pts), Girls 1st Place

5th Place: Amrita Suresh (2.5 pts), Girls 2nd Place

ICA and Games24x7.com successfully host 4th Annual Chess Championship 2008 in Bangalore

2nd October 2008, Bangalore: Mr. Sushruta Reddy, National Arbiter and Secretary, Innovators Chess Academy (ICA) in association with Games24x7.com hosted the 4th Annual ICA Rapid Chess Championship 2008 and the 3rd Innovators Chess Academy Inter-School Chess Championship on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti in Bangalore.

The ICA Championship 2008 saw a massive response with nearly 350 players participating from the south of India including Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore and neighbouring cities. There was an active participation from young, up-coming champions of chess and their parents in various age categories. The open chess tournament saw a very strong response with the veterans and cream of the top talent participating.

Mr. Sushruta Reddy who is the ex. Jt. Secretary of United Karnataka Chess Association and a chess coach and founder of the Innovators Chess Academy has been a very active arbiter and a strong proponent of promoting the skill based game of chess and taking it to the masses. In recent times, people have shown active interest in participating in a completely new online blitz chess tournament model where people can play online tournaments for cash prizes and the game of chess is now spreading to the masses.

www.games24x7.com was the official sponsor for the ICA Championship 2008 where Mr. Reddy himself is an active player. Mr. Bhavin Pandya, co-founder and managing director of Games24x7.com said, “We have an active association with Mr. Sushruta Reddy right from the starting days of Games24x7.com and he has been an active player and a strong contributor to the development of the chess game on our website. We offer online chess and rummy tournaments catering to the local needs of Indian gaming enthusiast. When Mr. Reddy approached us with the opportunity for being part of ICA Championship, we were very enthusiastic and immediately confirmed our support in his noble initiative to expand chess tournaments in the southern part of India."

Rahul Shandilya won the ICA Open Chess Championship 2008 when he defeated R Nagesh in the final round. Although Rahul tied with K.V.Sripad for the first place with 5.5 points apiece, the former finished ahead due to a higher tie breaker score.

The detailed list of winners of the ICA chess championships 2008 can be seen here.

About Games24x7.com – Games24x7.com is an Indian online games start-up founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM who have seen both eastern and western cultures and wish to bring the spirit of local Indian games to the masses. Games24x7.com is India’s first online games company to run skill based competitive daily tournaments with real cash prizes in rummy and chess.

About Innovator’s Chess Academy – Innovator’s Chess Academy (ICA) is one of the premier and most Active Chess Organizations in Bangalore. The Academy has organized nearly 50 Chess Tournaments since early 2005 besides providing Coaching to children in various parts of the City. The Academy also enjoys strong support from the United Karnataka Chess Association (UKCA). ICA founded by Mr. Sushruta Reddy, and supported by Vice Presidents, Mr. Durgesh and Mr. Karthik Shetty has now branched to Muscat and Oman.

For any further information please contact:
Sachin Uppal, Marketing Director,
Play Games24x7 Pvt.Ltd.
Mumbai, Maharashtra


Sushruta Reddy
National Arbiter and Secretary,
Innovators Chess Academy
Bangalore, Karnataka