[PLUG] [OT] Tata Communications broadband - escalation contacts?

[Mayuresh]

On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 09:24:48AM +0530, Ashwin wrote:
> >Forget it. Dump them. Spread the word that they are rank one as***les.
> +1 for this advice. And sometimes I hear TATA is a wonderful group
> and takes care of the country and its customers and has a CSR etc
> ..... Is that really true?  ;)

I wouldn't judge this by this instance alone since I was a happy customer
for several years before that. (Honestly, I don't know whether I'd have
written it in such a calm tone in those 15 days when I was facing the
issue!)

I think since TCom became TCom SME, the quality of service has gone down.
I think they want to focus more on the SMEs (which is unfair to retail
household customers they already have.)

Just for records, after 15 horrifying days, they realized that the fault
was with ICC cables to whom they have outsourced the cabling. (I'd still
not exonerate TCom as I am their customer and ICC cable is none of my
business.) The site engineer should have done a better job of analyzing
the issue instead of offering glib solutions and statements (like change
the IP, "ho jayega ab, baki customers ka ho gaya") and so on for a
prolonged period.

Connection is working fine now and I always get full speed as per my plan.
I decided to use it as of now because I had already prepaid for a long
term and refunds looked very difficult process. Also, no reliable
alternative came up in my area.

This is some evaluation of alternatives I did in the meantime:

A. BSNL 3G.
I topped up my 3G plan with 10GB voucher as I was almost sure I was going
to close TCom connection. But I realized, there is a big difference
between a "reliable backup" and the "primary internet connection" when
beyond casual browsing I had to download things. I did not get speeds of
more than 10kbps for extended periods of time.

(With TCom restoring the connection, I have at least 9GB left which will
expire soon! Any creative ideas on how to utilize them?! E.g. I tried
things like continuously talking on voip when driving from office to home
to consume the balance. But due to poor speeds it didn't work.)

B. TTML

Looks good though not available in my area.

C. Tata Docomo photon or 3G

The CDMA modem is difficult to get work with my obscure OS - NetBSD. (Not
impossible, though at present I don't have time to experiment.)

For long term use I wouldn't like to use phone tethering, though as a
backup option I currently do so. If I get a decent 3G router (a certain
model I posted in another thread) I'll consider switching to a 3G plan as
main connection. However it is not clear whether Tata Docomo 3G speeds are
any better than BSNL's or not. Also their footprint and roaming options
are limited and I don't think they offer connectivity on 2G network
wherever 3G is not available. On all these aspects BSNL 3G scores over any
other other players.

Strangely enough their website says "tethering is not allowed" with their
connection. (Well??? Remember the days when "Pune telecom" would have an
objection to fitting a cordless phone on their line?!)

So haven't tried this option.

My overall impression is wireless (3G/CDMA) plans and QoS are not yet
comparable with wired connections. If they become so, I'll be happy to get
rid of wired connection mess.

After a PLUG thread providing feedback about other players, I have not
considered evaluating beyond these players.

Mayuresh.