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I have had the worst consumer experience of my life with Tata Indicom. Their broadband service is atrocious. This week I had 50 hours downtime. I befriended some of the company's local engineers, who I think are highly skilled and hard-working. They told me that Tata's head office in Hyderabad is refusing to give them permission to install a new server and replace the faulty one. They also told me that Hyderabad did not know what it was doing and admitted that head office just gives meaningless excuses.

Initially, I thought it was an anti-Kolkata thing, that Tata Indicom was deliberately concentrating all its resources in the "IT hubs" of Bangalore and Hyderabad. But 50 hours downtime is just absurd. How can anyone run a business with such atrocious service.

I also badly lost my patience with their customer services. They continually asked me to repeat myself and after one girl told me that she could not understand my accent and could I speak clearer, I shouted: "English is my native language!" Then I went into a diatribe about the Tatas being a bunch of lousy crooks and thieves. My wife was panicking: "They'll record your conversation." I replied: "Let these lying cheats do their worst."

As soon as I got back on-line, I searched around for Tata Indicom users who have had a similar experience. It did not take long. It seems that everyone is recommending AirTel's broadband service, so I think I will give them a try.

The problem is that Tata Indicom has launched an aggressive campaign to monopolise the market. It's increasing market share has nothing to do with customer satisfaction, but the financial and political muscle of Ratan Tata. What is lacking in India is any method for consumers to compare performance standards.

I made the mistake that most Indians probably make by trusting in the "Tata" brandname instead of actually looking more objectively at other companies on the market. Actually, I can find no company with a worse track-record in broadband services than Tata Indicom, judging by the level of complaints against the company.

Given Tata Indicom's gradual monopolisation of the broadband market, the problem is a serious one for India, which is striving to become an IT hub. No foreign investor will stand for the poor level of service. And if the likes of Tata Indicom continue to perform badly, the young educated people who rely on growth in these sector will be sold out. Swadeshi capitalism is the enemy of India.

Complaints against Tata Indicom

Tata Indicom Broadband - deficient service - complaint blog

Tata Indicom Broadband - complaint blog

My Experience With Broadband and Narrow-Service! - Harri's Scribblings

Et Tu, Tata - The worse, most horrendous broadband - Alap Ghosh

Tata Indicom Broadband is a Sham - Senthil Kumar

My experience with TATA Indicom 'Broadband' even b4r I become a customer! - Socrates

Pathetic Tata Indicom Broadband service in Delhi - Sandip Bhattacharya

Internet connection - Bangalore - Samuel Raj Singh

When I gave up - Lapsus Calami