Reliance Infotel - My Thoughts + All Updates #2

Continuing from my earlier post about Reliance Industries' Infotel Broadband...

Uninor Leaves Kolkata & WB

This is the first announcement from a serious player in telecom sector since Supreme Court quashed 122 licenses. Uninor, the telecom service of Telenor is closing down services at Kolkata and WB w.e.f. 00: IST 19th January 2013. The official statement goes below, as seen on Uninor.in :

Tata Docomo CDMA Prepaid Mobile & Drama

Tata Docomo CDMA Saga

1. Used STV95, bundled data & main account balance exhausted and I had negative balance. That should not be happen, but TTL says that’s the system, they can not disconnect internet on CDMA. I used MTS, BSNL CDMA and Reliance CDMA – nothing such happened with me.
2.  TTL did a mess, it does not show how much negative balance the customer has. On calling 12527 it's always zero.
3. Called 198, the lady told me she can not check my negative balance, rather asked me to call 121.

Talaash (2012) - Movie Review

Probably when you were a kid, you heard of such stories - a family moves to a new house. The only kid of the family has a mysterious new friend in the house who saved the boy. The family man finds this new kid disappears inside a particular wall. Later the wall was broken and a skeleton of a kid was found buried inside it.

These kind of stories I did read over Suktara or other Bengali books. A story of good spirit helping people who can help him to take revenge!

Talaash is also of similar genre. It was a let down for many people as it was touted and promoted as a psychological thriller, but ultimately it turns to be a story about spirits living in our world.

How to Avoid Girlfriend at Mid-night? #Joke #Fun

Dialogues are in Hindi ... got it over facebook, could not resist it to share it here!

Girlfriend called 2 her boyfriend at mid-night.

Opera 12.11 is A Big Let Down

After each and every update comes on Opera Desktop Browser, it needs more polish up and subsequent next minor release comes. Generally the major update comes with so many crashing that some bugs need to be fixed ASAP.

But this new release of v12.11 is a big mess for Opera users. I find some issues:

1. You can not select some text on any webpage, the selection is removed in a fraction of second. You need to hold it clicking left click and ctrl+c very fast. So no way you can not right click to copy or copy to note.

2G Auction 2012: Not a Great Story for India to Share with the World

Following the very poor response, financially and technically, all the blame go to TRAI who recommended Rs 18,000 cr for pan India spectrum. The spectrum auction for 1800MHz later priced for Rs 14000 cr for pan India 5MHz spectrum which is too high for operators who had shelled out money for 3G and 4G spectrum and in high debt. Operators’ bodies – COAI and AUSPI repeatedly told that this price will replicate in negative growth of the sector but regulatory bodies TRAI and DoT did not took them in ears.

The tepid response tells that CAG did miscalculation of Rs 1.76 lakh cr loss on 2008 spectrum sale. They messed up because they took 3G auction as basic, and 3G auction went fierece as operators thought 3G growth story would be same great as 2G were.

Barrackpore - Eating Out!

Eating out is now in. And this habit is growing across the country, even sub-urban places are having very good eating houses.

As Barrackpore is my home town. I am listing the eating out places if you are living/visiting nearby. The list does not include proper Kolkata's eating houses.
* includes Bar/ Drinks Served

I am adding small reviews of these eatery houses and expecting to add pictures of all these places in coming days.

Near Barrackpore Railway Station

V-Cafe*
Kurry Klub - serves Sizzlers 

Sona and New Sona
West Wind
Flavour (at Ganja Goli) - often closed
? (earlier known as Aahar/Deep/ Penguine )
Dhaka Biriyani (formerly Ros) 
Kitchen ?
Dada Boudir Biriyani
Roll Centers - Sudama is most popular among these
Lassi Counters - Kaluda's Lassi is my fav

Rumali Ruti Counters
Momo House
Brain Bells*

Stn to Chiriamore
Punjabi Hotel - serves Large Dosa, Moglai Parotha
Penguin - part of Penguin chain in the suburb, food is good, ambiance is good for family dine out
Samrat - one of the old restro in BKP, serves awesome tasty food
Spice Garden + Devils*
Ubique*
Imperial Bar*
Bhuribhoj  - now closed
Roll Centers - Kohinoor and Anil Saha's
Momo House

Manirampur
Amazon*

Way to Palta, Ichapur
Orchid
Biriyani Centers at Palta Rly Stn beside Platform no 4
Madol*
Sonar Tori*

Khardah

Penguin
Silver Spoon
Park
Royal

Sodepur
Penguin
Penguin Dhaba
Penguin
Disha

Agarpara
Regent*

Belgharia
Penguin
Rasui

I request my readers to inform me about new eating out places by dropping comments. Currently I am not living at Barrackpore :(

For Barrackpore related stuffs visit: facebook.com/AmarSohorBarrackpore

last updated on August 2012

Tata Docomo CDMA Internet Settings for EVDO Smartphone Users

Tata Indicom (in Delhi)/Tata Docomo CDMA (in other circles) - Internet Settings

Internet settings for imported CDMA handsets (net connection established without any settings in other CDMA phones like Samsung mPower TV, as I  checked)

Reliance Infotel - My Thoughts + All Updates

Reliance Industries owned Infotel Broadband is going to roll out 4th Generation services on LTE platform and plans to offer data as low as Rs 10/GB, as reported by Economics Times. The report also tells that RIL will also bundle the data with multiple devices. Entry level tablets will be major device for Infotel's LTE offerings and it may cost as low as Rs 3500/ ~$70 (Just remember Aakash - the $35 tablet).

But this report has nothing new, all these stuffs are already said on ET. RIL is keeping all of its BWA plans under hood and no one can have it. Even their employees are also very secretive regarding BWA launch. Interestingly this latest 2-page report by ET creates a storm among telecom portals - Medianama & goBroadband makes a follow up story.

MoneyControl published a report on October 3, 2011 saying it can be Operation Vijay for Reliance as Mukesh Ambani re-enters telecom space. But this story also does not have the substance to make us cheerful. All stories on media are based on rumor or market speculation.

But only story that caught my brain is by Forbes India, says Reliance Juggernaut On The Move. Again! The story depicts the entry of RIL in telecom space as battle of Titans - 'The first time Mukesh Ambani disrupted Indian telecom, Sunil Mittal survived, even emerged stronger. Can he pull it off a second time?'

The Dark Knight Rises - Awesomeness Ends

"A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know the world hadn't ended."

"Ohhh you think darkness is your ally? You merely adapted to the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was only a man. By that time it was nothing to me but blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." 

Bane's voice makes my day! 

With the phenomenon success and positive reviews The Dark Knight Rises ends an era which started in 2005 when Christopher Nolan rebooted Batman film series with Batman Begins. A darker, real-life, emotional and human Batman aka Bruce Wayne became my favourite overnight.

Interview with Rajnish Wahi,CEO of Radius Infratel

If you are interested in telecom infrastructure industry, you have already heard of Radius Infratel. Radius Infratel is country's fastest growing and fully integrated FTTH infrastructure company with qualified IP1 License.

Radius is noted for the expertise in last mile connectivity right upto the customer’s door through Neutral FTTx infrastructure, which provides most optimal solutions for advanced triple-play residential and business services. Using NANO platform Radius's single OFC based infrastructure can be used by multiple service providers.

Radius is now engaged to provide extensive FTTx broadband coverage in top cities of India, the first commercial launch may be in Gurgaon and is expected to provide 1Gbps connection speed to end customers.

Telecom/Broadband Forums in India

Over the years there are many forums founded over internet for discussion of broadband/telecom scenario in India.

List of Windows Softwares - Must Haves on Your PC

This blog post is basically made after I find many people fails to understand what to install and what not to install on a Windows PC/laptop. So I listed the softwares which I find essentials and the suggested ones.

After installing Windows 7 Ultimate (without key) Windows keeps Automatic Update enabled by default. So disable it, and stop Action Center to stop showing alerts regarding this. If you are not geek, please keep ignoring these messages from Action Center.

Tab, Tab, Tab - But Who Are Buying?

Since Android is pushed to touch screen slates aka tablets, many companies entered into tablet market. I am not saying about the major device makers like Apple (iPad), Samsung (Galaxy Tab), HTC (Flyer), Motorola (Xoom), Asus, Toshiba, Acer, ZTE, Huawei and others, but I am saying about the Indian companies which are launching tablets running Android almost every day.

These Indian branded tablets are quite budget friendly, available for 5K - 15K and ship with significantly good hardware like 1GHz processor, GPU, VPU, 1GB DDR3 RAM and capacitative touch screen and run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. On the innovative front, some of these tablets have a regular USB port for use with external 3G/EVDO dongle.

Micromax Funbook is having good sale, as I believe, the company has quite good popularity, I mean people know about the brand.

But what about Zync (Z990 Plus), Kobian (Mercury mTab Rio), WickedLeaks (Wammy Plus), iBerry (AX01, AX03G) and so many... These companies have few or zero presence in handset market, but entered the field to mark their presence in tablet PC market.

Once-not-so-popular-but-now-a-known-brand Notion Ink did not able to take care of the hype rose for their much-anticipated Adam tablet.

So conclusion is 80% of people are not buying tablets, none of my friends are having tablets, just like less 1% of my friends are using Blackberry :P

Sorry tabbers, you have to wait for another couple of years to get more in your comm. Till then get phablet friends !

Nature's Canvas - The Sky During Rainy Season

I like the rainy season very much, the reason is the clouds of the rainy season makes the sky so spectacular and photogenic that I can't do anything but take a snap. Rain is something like nature's cleanser ;)

Last year, in August 2011 I visited the Char Paisar Ghat/ Babaji Ghat of Manirampur, Barrackpore and got some excellent pictures of the cloud and boats. The ghat at the Ganges were very much natural (now a concrete made jetty and staircase is making there).

However these time I am not posting those pictures here, rather I am posting some fresh pictures taken in last 2 days including today.

Taken on July 1st, 2012 Evening

The Amazing Spiderman - A Reboot of Worth

Just a week back, I watched Hemlock Society which was almost ok, but few things which I did not like. Similarly Spiderman 4 aka The Amazing Spiderman is fun as all critics are saying but may be not for those watched first Spiderman live action film back in 2002. The main reason is first Spidey hit us ten years back, and now we are mature and the main story of Spiderman is same over the decades.

Facebook Message & Facebook Mobile over SMS : Free Convo Combo

Last week my brother went to Bangaluru to attend the final interview at Indian Statistical Institute. Though country wide roaming for free of cost did not come, we find a way out for cheaper (almost free) communication mode.

I sent a sms to his BSNL no. asking to send me messages on facebook.
He is using BSNL 3G, which offers data roaming at no extra cost.
My mobile no. registered with facebook, and as he drops msg on fb to me, it instantly delivered to my mobile's inbox.
I replied to that no. and it goes to fb conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Buggy MBlaze Application?

I am using MTS MBlaze for around 2 years since its inception in Indian wireless broadband market. But I am very much in doubt that the default MBlaze application is fucking buggy!

It disconnects the internet connection in the middle, and auto-reconnects for a few seconds. It is done so silently that even you could not understand that disconnection happens. Bad for you if you are doing some online transaction. (MTS MBlaze v 1.0.27)

Reliance Infotel - Who Are On the Hitlist?

The new telecom policy or NTP 2012 will allow VoIP (voice over internet protocol). So you will able to make voice or video call to any number from your home or wireless broadband in coming days.

It will help Reliance Industries owned Infotel Broadband(IB) to offer ultra low cost voice calls in India. As these video/voice calls will generate domestic internet traffic - there will not be that much of traffic load for IB. Bad time ahead for 2G and 3G players, as it is almost sure RIL will come up with predatory pricing (forget Sunil Mittal who thought 1p/sec from Tata Docomo was predatory pricing). And international calling will be cheaper than current operators' tariff.

I Love Paramount - The Sarbet House of Old Calcutta

These days, I am quite busy, so blog posting is not that frequent. But today I came across an article on Chakhori Corner on College Street's Paramount - the Sarbet House of North Calcutta. I intentionally put Calcutta as the shop still holds the heritage as well as the glamor of old Calcutta.

I came to know about this blog - Chakhori Corner via Kolkata Curry. The blog is run by 3 girls and posts Kolkata restaurant reviews. Just then I jumped to check the blog, not totally disappointing, but I did not like the idea of the rating system which includes Decor and Cleanliness. I mean that's unique and says that it is a girl-run review!

WinkNet 3G Data Card is Just Another ZTE MF190

Recently one of friend went to Chandni, the tech hub of Kolkata for buying a data card at a low price. There he found some WinkNet branded data card, on the box there is a BSNL logo. He shared this info to me. So as I am interested about data cards I google 'winknet'!

From Google's 1st page results of 'winknet' I came to know that Winknet is a brand of Shyam Networks, a communications solutions provider which recently tied up with BSNL UP to sell their Winknet data cards in India. The reports (Business Standard) also noted that Shyam Networks is a part of Shyam Group which is the second major investor in Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) which runs CDMA voice and data service provider MTS India.

Skyfall - Return of James Bond

3G Data Pricing Goes Low - Operators Pushing 3G?

In last 2 months every operators who are offering 3G services in India have revised their 3G pricing. Breaking the ice was done by Aircel, just like they did bring true internet on 2G. But soon Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and RCom went to slash 3G data pricing. Even PSU operators - BSNL and MTNL are not late to join the 3G party.

Worldwide LTE-TDD Commercial Roll out List

List is not ready....
But will be updated as soon as new info comes

Letsbuy - Bought & Killed [Shuts Down Stores, Redirects to Flipkart]

From today onwards Letsbuy - the famous one for coupon deals gets shut down. Earlier Letsbuy failed to raise funds and was bought out by Flipkart. Now the merger is complete and all traffic now goes to flipkart.

What is Happening in West Bengal? :O

I did not post a single blogspot article on politics over my blog, because it is not my cup of tea. But this time I feel must do my first one as student is termed openly maoist or SFI/CPM cadre by a chief minister of an Indian state.

Mamata Banerjee, the head of Trinamool Congress and CM of West Bengal has a habit of over-expression and don't know how to speak on public while the audience ask her about some wrongdoing of her party. She proved these before on Park Street rape case (which she remaked as a try to defame her government and later cops proved her wrong, and ultimately those cops were transferred), banning of popular newspapers in  state libraries (as they are defaming her majesty) and facebook cartoon of her and abusing & beating of a Jadavpur Professor.

She also pushed Dinesh Trivedi to resign as Railway Minister as he proposed of fare hike. Many says this happened b'cause she did not like Congress touch of him.

And this one is unique and idiotic!! Yesterday she lost her cool in an interactive tv session in Town hall as the audience asked about women safety in the state, Arabul Islam's activity (who abused and assaulted a lady teacher). She accused the audience, which consisted of students, to be Maoists and CPM cadre and left the hall.

Mamata walks out of show, calls students Maoists - Video 1 Video 2 (Digigiri Unplugged) Video 3 (Students take on Bengal CM).

I feel that she can't take criticism that's her big problem.

Read more: 'অম্বিকেশ' শুনেই অগ্নিশর্মা অগ্নিকন্যা

বিস্ফোরক বই প্রকাশ প্রাক্তন তৃণমূল বিধায়কের - Dipak Ghosh, ex-TMC MLA and ex-IAS officer published his book Mamata Banerjee As I Have Known Her. The book contains exclusive as well as explosive information on didi. He also said that fasting on Singur issue was celebrated with chocolates and sandwiches.

And read comments here on TOI.

Tata Photon Max vs MTS MBlaze Ultra vs Airtel 4G: Tariff Comparison

If you think beyond 3G (HSPA & EVDO rev A), you can see EVDO Rev B deployment by MTS/SSTL and Tate Teleservices. MTS till now rolled out its EVDO RevB Phase II network in Jaipur only. MTS Ultra supports upto 4.9Mbps per 1.25MHz channel. As they used 2 carrier channels, MTS Ultra can offer upto 9.8Mbps download speed.

Tata Tele deployed EVDO Rev B Phase I network - with two carrier channel of 1.25MHz Tata Photon Max offers 6.2Mbps (3.1Mbps x2). Currently available in 16 cities.

And on 4G Airtel is the sole operator which launched commercial services in Kolkata and Bangalore. Airtel used LTE-TDD technology on 2.3GHz band of spectrum.

Take a look into Tata Photon Max, MTS Ultra and Airtel 4G's tariff comparison in Rs per GiB data:

Your Poor Experience With Small E-commerce Site May be Due to Courier Franchisees

Earlier I posted about BookMyWish.com - a small e-commerce site based on Ahmedabad which uses Infibeam's e-commerce platform BuildABazaar. BMW is pretty good, at least that was my first experience. Cheap price + delivery via DTDC - I liked it.

I find that BMW has a unique USP, very low price in Belts, wristwatches with good quality of products (NOT branded and NOT Very Good quality). But these products are ideal for my daily use, which goes rough & tough of my daily work.

My last shopping on BMW did not worked very well. It took 15 days to get the stuff.

Aircel Unlimited 3G Plans: Get a New Life with Endless Possibilites

Almost one and half year back Opera Software India conducted a contest of Opera Mini tagline. The winning tagline was 'Rocket in your pocket'. But that time pocket mein rocket was just another tagline for Indian mobile users, as operators just started rolling out 3G services in few cities and 3G tariff was ahh... a bit high and out of reach of most of the subscribers.

But now you can say it is true and you really can enjoy pocket mein rocket, thanks to Aircel's new Pocket Internet Smart: 3G unlimited packs. If you can remember Aircel was pioneer in revolutionizing 2G aka GPRS/EDGE data segment as Aircel started offering true internet access (not just WAP) on mobile phones with their innovative Pocket Internet Unlimited 2G data packs. 

E-Commerce: My Latest Encounters

Last year December I put a story that book prices over Flipkart is not the cheapest, while Infibeam & Indiaplaza is offering a way cheaper than Flipkart.

After 4 months, TimesofIndia agrees with me, as they covered a story - Flipkart faces heat of rivals’ discounts. The article says people over India are now more aware to get the cheapest deal online.

Now a days I buy books online, after comparing prices over Indiabookstore.net. From my last some purchases I find that books are cheapest on Homeshop18 (on basis of April-May shopping). While Indiaplaza comes second on pricing, but delivers fast (in 2-4 days)

While to get online comparison of other stuffs (eg: Pendrive, mobile phones, camera etc) I use Google. Well here is a catch, select the model you like to buy and search like this: 'Micromax A73 shop' on Google (India). Google will reveal the product pages of top Indian sites - Naaptol, Saholic, Flipkart, Indiaplaza, Sulekha, Snapdeal, Letsbuy, Homeshop18 and many more.

Why is Airtel Shouting 4G Network Can Offer Max 40Mbps?

Many people are asking a question regarding Airtel 4G launch, that is why Airtel is saying its LTE-TDD network can provide upto 40 Mbps downlink and upto 20 Mbps uplink while most of LTE carriers over the globe are shouting about 100Mbps speed.

With Airtel's promise to deliver upto 40Mbps downlink, I checked out that during launch events at Kolkata Airtel 4G delivered around 32Mbps, while at Bengaluru launch event it was around 38Mbps as speedtest.net results say. But upload speed is not so good, on average 8Mbps.

at Bengaluru

 

at Kolkata

After weeks of Airtel 4G launch at Kolkata, I got an opportunity to try out Airtel 4G. That was kind of real time test zone, as there was another 4 people accessing Airtel 4G along with me. I got around 1.9MiB/s ~ 16Mbps. That is pretty good.

The Viral Rises - #tdkr07202012

So viral starts to promote The Dark Knight Rises!

And as expected it stirs the bat communities over the internet !! Atleast I can see huge excitement over Official 'The Dark Knight Rises' Community over facebook, where I am a member for quite a long time. Join there for more scoops!  

Aircel To Change 3G Market with 'Pocket Internet Smart' Plans

Just like they disrupted 2G data space with Pocket Internet plans, Aircel is going to change the 3G landscape by introducing Pocket Internet Smart plans.

Srijit's 3rd: Hemlock Society - Catching Storyline

Srijit Mukherji does not need any introduction. Director of Autograph and Baishe Srabon is going to be back with his 3rd venture Hemlock Society.

If you don't know anything about Hemlock Society, know this:

The Hemlock Society USA was a national right-to-die organization founded in Santa Monica, California by Derek Humphry in 1980. Its primary missions included providing information to dying persons and supporting legislation permitting physician-assisted suicide. In 1992, following the publication of his book Final Exit, Derek Humphry left the leadership of Hemlock Society USA. In 2003 the national organization renamed itself, and a year later merged with another group into a newly formed national organization called Compassion & Choices. A number of unaffiliated local organizations continue to operate under variants of the Hemlock Society name.

via Wikipedia 

This film will reunite Srijit, Sree Venkatesh Films and Musician Anupam Roy once again.

Skyfall: Bond. Back in Business

Spoiler: Reliance Infotel Chosen LTE Partner

Reliance Industries owned Infotel Broadband Services Ltd which bagged pan India 20MHz BWA spectrum on 2300MHz band in 2010 auction is in the limelight for some time.

As we know from the latest scoop Infotel is doing trials in Jamnagar and finalizing roll out plans.

From inside sources, SPOILER ALERT

ABP's Online Mess Up: e-Paper of Telegraph India

ABP group sucks bigtime when it comes to online websites. (Their friends 91.9 FM also sucks, in spite of good programmes aired but whatever signal does not work at my suburban Kolkata area.) First they messed up Anandabazar.com without unicode support. After a long battle they brought unicode supported site for Anandabazar.

This time it's about their English daily - The Telegraph India. First of all telegraphindia.com does not deliver instantaneous news like TOI, NDTV, ZeeTV. Nor they have a tweet account for instant update of Kolkata news.

Telegraph India which is largest English daily in Eastern India has a website, as usual. But often I find articles on the website do not have the photographs which are present on the hard copy/print paper.

So only hope in those cases, are Telegraph's e-paper version. But the e-paper version of Telegraph India sucks. Why?

1. It requires log in to browse and read the e-paper !
2. No option for log in via Facebook or Twitter !
3. See below:
When you are logging in (taken you had registered) there is an option called Edition.
And under this, there are two options very familiar with each other - The Telegraph and TheTelegraph. This is to confused users which one to choose. On my first time, I choose the default option, and fucked up!
Note that you have to select second option - TheTelegraph to read e-paper version of The Telegraph India.

Credit Card Shaped Pen Drives From Moserbaer

Moserbaer which is in pen drive business for a time, is unique in consumer offerings. They sell pendrives preloaded with bollywood films, in the form factor of Swivel or capped.

This time Moserbaer launched a pendrive with 4GB/8GB storage. The uniqueness of the pendrives are the form factor. It is credit card shaped. The name is ZAP!

For details : http://shop.moserbaer.in/product-subCategories.asp?subId=105

How to Track Your Shipments By One Click (Bluedart, DTDC, FirstFlight)

During my online shopping, I see that websites send me the track code of the respective courier company, so that I can inform my family at home about the estimated time of delivery.

Often the email contains only the track code, so I have to open the site of the courier, then enter the code and check the details of the shipment. I also see that the page opens with the details of the track code is no use if you bookmark it to check it for second time.

For eg, if you have shipments on Bluedart, you open bluedart.com and enter the waybill no and you will be taken to http://bluedart.com/servlet/RoutingServlet - you can not share this link to anyone who can check the details of the shipment, you need to send the track code along with.

So I find out that some websites are sending the links, which can be shared and with one click you can check your shipment details.

I am sharing the links:

Why No 4G-LTE Smartphones in India Yet?

After Airtel launched 4G services in India, many are surprised as there is no smartphone on 4G. There are some reasons behind it:

1. 4G Smartphone which are globally released are on 700/1800-2100MHz FDD-LTE (in USA), 800/2600MHz FDD-LTE (in Germany, Korea, Japan).

But Indian 4G is based on LTE-TDD on 2300MHz band. So smartphones for Indian 4G are yet to start rolling out. A strong push by operators is needed to create the 4G smartphone marketplace.

2. Operators cannot push 4G smartphones as right now 4G coverage is not upto the mark. Secondly Airtel does not have 3G spectrum in Kolkata, Punjab and Maharastra.

Samaresh's Arjun on His Way to Big Screens

I am very much exciting when I saw the article on T2 that Samaresh Majumdar's young sleuth Arjun is to be into films! After Feluda, Bomkesh Bakshi and Kakababu this is most probably 4th apperance of Bengali seuth in the big screen!

Samaresh Majumder started these tales for the young readers on the request of Nirendranath Chakravarti. If you don't know Arjun is a young guy, in his 20s and lives with his widow mother in North Bengal (Jaipaiguri ?). My first encounter with Arjun was via Pujabarshiki Anandamela. But this characater is unique one by Samaresh Majumdar. Many readers also find the science fiction treatment with the character as well as with the stories. Adventure and Jungles are always present in this storyline as plots are mostly on the North Bengal.

The first film on Arjun will be based upon early stories of Arjun - an adaptation of two Samaresh Majumdar stories — Khunkharapi and Kalimpongey Sitaharan.

Director: Prem Modi

My Expectation from Telecom Policy 2012

The new telecom policy for India which is in discuss from 2011, is yet to deliver. Hopefully it may turn into a reality in 2012.

What I like to see from Telecom policy 2012:

1. Reduction in call termination charge to 10p/min or less, and ultimately zero call termination charge.
2. Permission of VoIP - to promote telephony over LTE data services.
3. Official policy for MVNO - to clear the road for foriegn players.
4. Proper spectrum policy
5. Importance to CDMA spectrum vacation
6. To make EVDO legal
7. To promote BYOD (bring your own device) policy among operators.
8. One Country, One Circle - abolishment of roaming. If not possible, break the 22 circles into zonal circles like North, East, West, South & North East.

4G/LTE in India: Tikona Digital Networks

Tikona Digital Network (TDN) is a wireless internet service provider (WISP) in India, operating on the free spectrum of 5.8GHz band.

The company is mostly owned by private equity companies like Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (22.8 %), Indivision India Partners (13.46% ), Oak India Investments (23.55% ) and Green Lotus Investments (10.09% ), while the man behind the company Tikona Founder, MD & CEO, Prakash Bajpai owns 2.67 percent, while Tikona Trust owns 26 percent. [source: Medianama] Note that Tikona was founded in 2008 by ex-Reliance Communications employee Rajesh Tiwari and Prakash Bajpai, and bagged class A pan India ISP licence and launched wireless broadband under the brand name of WiBro in 2010 (stands for Wi-reless Bro-adband) to offer fixed broadband experience wirelessly. There is a Korean wireless broadband technology called WiBro but there is no connection between Tikona and this Korean WiBro.

Reasons Behind Airtel's Choice of Kolkata as 4G Launchpad

Yesterday Airtel rolled out country's first 4G services in Kolkata. And many are wondered why Airtel chose Kolkata as 4G launch pad! The Telegraph India frontpage of 11th April said: Mystery of Calcutta turning 4G launchpad - All you wanted to know about the faster telecom service plus the debut theories. 

Airtel created a landmark in the history of wireless broadband in India, as Airtel 4G LTE, country's 1st 4G services launched in Kolkata on April 10, 2012. Details of Airtel 4G plans, devices and VAS are available here. (BSNL WiMAX was launched earlier, but no 2Mbps+ plans means you never see true potential of 4G.)

Before you say OMAAGAAD ! let me explain. I will also mention Telegraph India's points.
I asked our sources close to Telecomtalk that despite of the fact Kolkata is the lowest ARPU generating metro circle why Airtel chose it as country' first 4G city. They explained like these:

1. Broadband penetration is low in Kolkata, so they can capture untapped data market with 4G (broadband revolution). That leads me to think that pricing could be affordable and user-friendly. But ultimately Airtel brought plans targetting mid-user or enterprise customers, while device cost will keep most people at bay!

Airtel 4G Launch - Sneak Peak

airtel 4G Launch


1st LTE based wireless broadband in India

Technology: LTE-TDD
Spectrum band: 2300MHz
Spectrum Airtel has: 20MHz
Equipment Partner: ZTE
First Roll out in: Kolkata
Launch date: April 10, 2012
End User Devices: Huawei made USB Modem and WiFi Router
Pricing: Rs 155/GB at the lowest, Rs 166/GB highest. Tariff is strict Ok-Ok, targeted to high end users.
Compete with: Any data card based services, will compete against EVDO players.

More details: Telecomtalk

Website: Airtel.in/4G

Pre-Launch Discussion of 4G/LTE in India

In India 4G is to be rolled out in less than 30 days. Here 4G pricing should be affordable and must come with proper customer-friendly FUPs.

Why 4G pricing will be cheaper ? [Read my article on Telecomtalk]

1. 4G spectrum is way cheaper than 3G. 4G players got more spectrum at lesser price.

2. 4G aka LTE can be an alternative of fixed broadband. 3G and 4G both are backed by fiber backbone. 3G spectrum in just 5MHz (compared to 20MHz on 4G per opertor) and no network sharing is allowed - operators are not keen to offer good tariff on 3G as it can draw huge traffic causing choked network.

Sanghai, Department Must Be in Must-Watch 2012 Film List

Recently I have come across two trailers of two upcoming Hindi films!
I must tell you that both are fucking exciting :) and should be listed on your 2012's must-watch films.

No 1 is Sanghai by Dibakar Banerjee. He is the director of Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008) and Love Sex aur Dhokha (2010). 

Letsbuy - Popularity Goes Down

After Flipkart acquired Letsbuy first thing came on my mind that there would be no more coupons available on Letsbuy. Yesterday I had an adda with my brother and we concluded that these days letsbuy is out of sight from all deal sites like freekaamaal, desidime etc. 

I was looking for a grooming kit, I find Philips QG3250 is priced at Rs 2222 on letsbuy, while on flipkart it is Rs 2189. Earlier with coupon of 10% or 5% discount you can get it at 2K, cheapest online. But as no longer coupons are available people are forgetting letsbuy. 

New iPad - 4G Mismatch: Wait before You Buy It

New iPad or iPad 3 or iPad 4G is launched in US and supports 4G network in US. New iPad 4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S. and on Bell, Rogers, and Telus networks in Canada. [specs details]



Worldwide 2G voice services are generally offered over 900MHz & 1800 MHz by GSM operators, while CDMA operators use 800 & 1900 MHz spectrum. For 3G services (WCDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA) GSM operators use 2100MHz, while CDMA players can offer high speed EVDO services on existing 2G spectrum. This is general standard, so global roaming is easy for GSM and CDMA operators, though GSM is widely accepted compared to CDMA. But as we see to global deployment of LTE, there is no such standardization of spectrum band like we see with GSM and CDMA. It may cause problem with global roaming of LTE with a single device.



Do not buy a new iPad 4G if you are living in India. Because in India currently no operators offers 4G services. Secondly iPad 4G supports FDD-LTE on 700 MHz and 1700/200MHz spectrum band. 

IPL Sucks, as well SRK as KKR Owner

I feel that IPL is turning to be boring stuff for me. Every year a new session means too much T20 cricket, and no great rivalry like India vs Pakistan or Australia vs England.

I am not a good fan of IPL. And I hate SRK promoting IPL as well as KKR. :(

These days I can not read the sports pages of the newspaper which are flooded over by IPL gossips! :X

But FM commercials as aired over Kolkata FM channels sounds funny, cool and catching!

Update: KKR starts their journey in IPL 5 with a loss ! :P

Power FM - Still Cool and Happening

During my school days I used to listen to radio during my late night study sessions. That time, new FM channels were beginning to tune up in Kolkata and all over India. And Power FM was my favorite because it airs less ad than other FM channels, secondly from the very first they are airing English songs along with Hindi songs - which is truly exciting to youngsters. Before the internet and youtube era, Power FM was the only source of listening English songs for me.

Just few days back I was listening to Power FM, and I find that it still keeps that old flavor. :) Thanks to the minds behind the FM channel.

But it is not good to see that they do have a not-functioning website. 

Bob Biswas Wishes April Fools' Day :P

via facebook!

List of Bengali Food Blogs

We are Bengalees, and we love to eat, feed others and cook (applicable to even some Bengali guys)

There are plenty of blogs offering you recipes of great Bengali dishes.

An excellent group on Facebook - Calcutta Restaurants

Sunday Morning Breakfast(Lunch) Club - Kolkata on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/groups/smblc/
This fb page lists a lot of such blogs/sites etc.

Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar http://www.finelychopped.net/

Sutapa's Indian Cuisine sutapasindiancuisine.blogspot​.in

Chakhori Corner http://chakhoricorner.blogspot.in/

Bong Cook Book http://www.bongcookbook.com/

The Amateur Gourmet - A Funny Food Blog http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Bengalees don't restrict themselves into a concrete food style, they used to try anything on hell and heaven.

I make this post in a hurry, I would be very happy if my readers add more sites by dropping comments.
A brief history of all sites will be added soon.

GPRS Packs by Different 2G Operators: Pack Value & Rs/GB

** Rs indicated the data pack value and Rs/GB means how much the operators are charging per GB according to the pack value.

** Note that data packs can be revised any time by the operators.

Bob 'Saswata' Biswas As Moneylender?

If you love, like or scare of Bob Biswas, you must know who is the dude acted as Bob - he is none other than Saswata Chatterjee, Apu-da of Bengali film industry.

After this contract killer + LIC agent dual role in Kahaani, Saswata is turning into moneylender (mahajan) in Manoj Michigan’s comedy Damadol. 


I got this pic of Bob's new avatar on Telegraph India T2 (March 28, 2012 Edition). 
The article was published in a T2 with Saswata's photo, while the website does not showcase him. Anyway I grabbed his new avatar from e-paper version of Telegraph (which is damn slow, often non-responsive to my mouse clicks and so on!)

Well this is the actual content from Telegraph:

CHIP Forum is Now Tech2 Forum: RIL Link?

If you are technology, computer and internet enthusiast you must heard about CHIP magazine. Basically I was re-born to computer geek due to CHIP and Digit tech mag.

Tech2 came to my life in later time, it was a tech site dedicated to Indian audience. For me it is not so popular, but I visited it sometimes for the contests, which I never won. That time it was tech.com, later it was revamped and URL is changed to tech2.in.com - because of the link with in.com.

It should be noted that in.com is launched by Network18. Please visit the wikipedia page of Network18 and you will be wondered about Network18. CHIP is a product of Infomedia18, which is print mag face of Network18. So overall CHIP and Tech2 is just opposite sides of a coin. Now online forum of CHIP - http://www.chip.in/forums/ is now merged with Tech2 Forum.

Order Cancellation on Bata & Pepperfry: How Did They React?

Recently two orders by mine were cancelled over Bata.in and Pepperfry.com. In both cases these were the respective first order from them. I am sharing my experiences on these two sites. Just read it and I will explain why Pepperfry.com gets a +1 !

I snap +1 from Pepperfry.com , it is now pending ! 

Bhooter Bhobishyot - Simply Awesome

For last 2 years Bengali films are getting back to the previous golden era, though commercial copy-paste films are also releasing along with these true Bengali films.

Bhooter Bhobishyot is another googly by Anik Datta.. 

It is enjoyable ghost comedy with some satire at places, a must watch for everyone. The movie can be a tribute to Ray, but the ensemble cast did it marvelously along with superbly crafted script! 

Dhritiman Chatterjee - A New Face of Filmy Bad Boys

Just back at home after watching Agent Vinod, I feel that Dhritiman Chatterjee is a new face of bad boys in Indian films (Hindi and Bengali). He is different from the league of bad boys like Amresh Puri, Gulshan Grover. He has definitive manly voice and can add a smooth chilling cold to it, so appeal is more.

Dhritiman was a discovery by Satyajit Ray, as he debuted in Ray's Pratidwandi in 1971. Later he appeared in other films of Ray.

Bob Biswas - a Cult in Making?

"Nomoshkar. Ami Bob Biswas. Ek minute."

.... Dhikkaw!!!

foto credit - MissMalini

It seems Saswata Chatterjee's character Bob Biswas is turning into a cult classic.

In Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani Bob Biswas is a character who is a L.I.C. agent but at the same time he is a cold blooded contract killer. Though the screen space was small for the character, the act by Saswata who was most of the time under-rated actor in industry, was extra ordinary and appeals everyone.

There's no psychopathic laughter. No twitching. No punch dialogue. He is the friendly neighbourhood hired assassin. He is Bob Biswas.  [via facebook.com/ekminute]

Already on Twitter there are two accounts

Google Wave Service to be Turned off on April 30, 2012

On March 21, 2012 I got a mail from wave-noreply@google.com with the subject: Reminder, Google Wave Sunsetting in 2012.

This is the official mail from Google to end its Wave project which many took as a next level of forum. But these days Google closed most of its Lab products and they are more concentrated in Social Networking. Google is trying hard to be a gem in SNS market, but still not so successful except Orkut was popular in India and Brazil.

Ex-employee who left Microsoft in 2009 and joined

On Hurry? Give Offline Stores A Try!

Shopping from online sellers are a tricky one. It saves your time a lot, you can order stuffs even at 3 AM of a day. But sometimes whole thing can turn to a nightmare to you, if you are not an tanned shopper.

Recently I made a blog post saying bookmywish did give me a pleasant shopping experience, this site is not that cool compared to pepperfry.com but at the end of the day I got the ordered stuffs delivered quickly. And that's thing people want - A good delivery chain.

But these sites often do not mention their servicable area, and further often they ship with some local couriers and all these lead to break the trust of the customer. Even Flipkart who has the best delivery chain can turn into a horrible shopping experience.

Now I had some issues

Samsung Galxy Pocket - Champ with Android Inside?

Smartphone market is booming in India, though late but it is happening. But 3G is not the factor behind this happening, rather people buy a 3G enabled smartphone but do not opt for 3G.

Today I came across an article by Economics Times saying that Samsung is coming up with cheaper smartphones in India.

Samsung already flooded the market here with its Galaxy branded Android smartphones - a lot of them are below 15K INR like Galaxy 3, G5, G Ace, G Min/Pop, G Y, G Y Pro, G Y Duos, G Ace 2. But the worst part is Samsung is not withdrawing older models nor these models get a price cut. Say for example Galaxy 3 - one of the popular economic Android device in 2011 is still selling at 8K. This phone has a 667 MHz processor while new Galaxy Y comes with 832 MHz processor and priced at 7.5K.

BSNL 3G Speedtest 2

This is my second BSNL 3G speedtest, I checked this one in the morning - offpeak hours, and find that BSNL 3G has no consistency. And ping is too high which affects the smooth browsing.

Few Stuffs I Like to See on Blogger

Earlier I tried to move on to Wordpress. But the time was not appropriate as then I did not have time to make posts, and as usual that bars me to explore wordpress.

After working on Wordpress theme on Telecomtalk.info I feel Blogger misses some things:

1. A good spam filter
2. Blogger does not differentiate tags/levels or categories.
3. Blogger does not offer to edit inappropriate comments dropped by readers.
4. New interface of Blogger sucks as Google messed up GMail UI too. [Even new UI of Wordpress looks better than the previous one]

This is just ridiculous that Blogger can't simple take care of these stuffs.

I am obviously looking forward to move to Wordpress or my own website. While moving to Wordpress requires some technical knowlege and hosting my own site means money - I am still stick to Blogger. With time ahead I will leave Blogger at any cost for sure.

Telegraph featured BBC Sherlock on t2

I watched this new contemporary Sherlock Holmes a months back, it is just awesome. I posted a status on facebook on this new SH.

Yesterday I saw new SH is featured on Telegraph India's entertainment supplementary T2. Then I feel to post on this new 21st century avatar of old sleuth. Thanks Madhumita Bhattacharyya, to cover this on T2.

When I was watching BBC Sherlock, I felt two things:

Kolkata to be Country's first 4G City - Will Success of 2G Replicate in 4G?

Quiz time !!!

Where were first 2G services launched in India ?
Ans: Kolkata, by Modi Telstra (now Vodafone)


Where were first 3G services launched in India ?
Ans: Delhi by MTNL [Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.]

Now without Kolkata touch 3G is yet to take off. 3G services are costly, and coverage is poor or not authentic be it BSNL or any private players. Also handsets price is also another issue. And in a whole customers did not adopt 3G.

Enter 4G! It is heard that 4G will be commercially available in Kolkata for the first time in India by Airtel. Via @ETTelecom we come to know that Kolkata circle will be managed for TD-LTE by ZTE Corp.

Journey started by 2G is now a grand success, let's see Kolkata Connection can make a success story for 4G services in India or not....

Well to make it success I love to see Muksehs Ambani has to use Monsoon Hungama on 4G too! 

Kolkata is Still Not In Twitter Trends

When I am writing this blog it is 5:19 AM, March 17, 2012. I am kind of disappointed to know that @twi (official twitter account of Twitter India) tweeted a hour ago:

We now have local trends for 6 cities in India! Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai: pic.twitter.com/MXjreNjZ 

And alas! Kolkata is not in the list!!

Why????

Are not people of Kolkata active over twitter? or they tweet without the hashtagKolkata?

Augere's Zoosh: LTE Broadband + Scam + Advances

Augere Holdings is one of the companies who won BWA license and spectrum in India in 2010. It bagged BWA spectrum in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh (1 circle only).

Voice and Data reported that Augere is targetting 4G launch in July, 2012. Roll out of Zoosh broadband will be started with Indore followed by Bhopal and then Raipur.  

Founded in 2007 Augere is a wireless broadband business company with a vision of 'Broadband for All' and focused to bring affordable broadband to Asia and Africa. In Asia Augere is already present in India's neighbor countries - Pakistan and Bangladesh. Augere is present there under 'Qubee' [Qubee Pakistan, Qubee Bangladesh] since 2009 and offers wireless broadband using WiMAX technology.

Augere is headed by Sanjiv Ahuja, former CEO of Orange. Principal shareholders of Augere include Harbinger Capital, France

e-Commerce in India: Roadblocks & My Story

e-Commerce is booming in India. Some died prematurely like Taggle, while some left the market and came back powerfully like BigAdda. Well from my aspect e-commerce boom is just started and it has to go long distance.

What are the road blocks for e-Commerce in India?

Shopping on bookmywish.com [positive feedback]

Ordered some stuffs on BookMyWish on March 9 and got delivered on March 15. 

Delivery in 6 working days! Good one!

Email 1: Order Confirmation on March 9
Email 2: Order will be shipped on March 12

Email 1 has a link for checking your order status and there you can check time of shipment, name of courier company and the tracking code.

However the shipment was done on March 13 via DTDC and got delivered at my home on March 15.

Conclusion: It was a pleasant shopping experience with bookmywish.com! Pricing is good overall and shipping + packaging is good! 

via email!

BWA in India: 4G, LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+