MTNL and BSNL must be sitting on a lot of underutilized 3G capacity, and the uptake doesn't appear to be as they had expected; we'd be surprised if it was. MTNLs CMD RSP Sinha told Business Standard that they have only 400 subscribers, but are targeting up to 300,000 subscribers for 3G in the first year. MTNLs 3G plans are expensive and their data plans certainly don't appear to be encouraging; the 3G head start gifted to them by the Indian government is unlikely to help them much, and other telecom operators, still awaiting the 3G auction, should thank them for a lesson in what not to do with pricing. For starters, BSNL, the larger of the two government owned telecom operators, has had to offer free incoming video calling for all existing 2G customers with 3G handsets. The offer is valid for 3 months, starting the 18th of May 2009. Video calling is of no use when you know don't know anyone who can receive the calls; we feel that the propensity to use the service will be low anyway. There is no use making it expensive to transition from 2G to 3G, and keeping costs high. Things will improve for BSNL only after they encourage a transition from 2G to 3G at a minimal cost, and look to make money on increased usage, rather than people people to buy it just because it is 3G. MTNL Launches Prepaid 3G Services; Tweaks Post Paid 3G Charges In case of Pre-paid 3G,…
