After having lived in Europe without a mobile phone for a couple of weeks now and trying to get a low cost connection, I realized how easy we have it in India when it comes to mobile networks. Believe me, we are living in a dream world. Cheap call rates, the best of models, free choice of networks.
It wasn't long back in my 3rd year year of engineering that I remember I was standing in a kilometer long queue trying to get my BSNL sim. By the time I was passing out it wasn't rare to see the high end models in the hands of the freshers, and by the time I started working, mobiles were like fashion, if you didn't have the latest model in your hand you were so passe. A year at most would be the time before a mobile phone model went from being the latest in thing to i-would-rather-be-caught-dead-than-be-seen-with-one.
My opinion here was precipitated by Lekhni's realization, she says,
"...We cannot switch providers if we don’t like the service, or unlock our phones without the provider’s “approval”. We cannot buy just any phone - because phone models are “customized” by the providers, so all phones will not work with all providers. So if you want an iPhone, for instance, you are stuck with AT&T. You also won’t see all the features of the phone, just those that your provider shows you. For more ringtones, or wallpapers, you have to pay up."
Read more on her blog here.
My guess would be that this is the kind of advantage that comes with late initiation but instant adoption of technology that India experienced with mobile phones.
A big thank you to the regulators and more power to those who champion the cause of the consumer.
It wasn't long back in my 3rd year year of engineering that I remember I was standing in a kilometer long queue trying to get my BSNL sim. By the time I was passing out it wasn't rare to see the high end models in the hands of the freshers, and by the time I started working, mobiles were like fashion, if you didn't have the latest model in your hand you were so passe. A year at most would be the time before a mobile phone model went from being the latest in thing to i-would-rather-be-caught-dead-than-be-seen-with-one.
My opinion here was precipitated by Lekhni's realization, she says,
"...We cannot switch providers if we don’t like the service, or unlock our phones without the provider’s “approval”. We cannot buy just any phone - because phone models are “customized” by the providers, so all phones will not work with all providers. So if you want an iPhone, for instance, you are stuck with AT&T. You also won’t see all the features of the phone, just those that your provider shows you. For more ringtones, or wallpapers, you have to pay up."
Read more on her blog here.
My guess would be that this is the kind of advantage that comes with late initiation but instant adoption of technology that India experienced with mobile phones.
A big thank you to the regulators and more power to those who champion the cause of the consumer.
