Microsoft has said that our technology better than Facebook, Google's for last mile connectivity. [Report from Times of India]

NEW DELHI: Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik has taken a pot shot at rivals Google and Facebook over their proposals to tackle the country's last-mile broadband connectivity problem, and said the technology that the software giant is offering is potentially more effective to take high-speed internet to remote villages.

India has become the latest battleground for the three US majors, as they aim for the telecom department's contract to provide last-mile connectivity as part of the over Rs 20,000 crore national broadband project. Google is experimenting with a network of helium balloons to relay signals to places that are hard to reach for traditional networks, while Facebook is considering using drones. Microsoft's technology, called TV White-Space, uses unused spectrum in frequencies used by TV channels to carry data.

"I can't imagine a drone hovering over the Earth for long periods of time and a balloon not drifting away, while here you can use solar power, an antenna that is used for simple TV broadcast and a device or router which is powered by solar which can provide the connectivity ," Pramanik said.

The local unit of the Redmond, Washington-based company has sought a licence from the telecom department to deploy a working example of the technology in Bangalore as proof of concept.

Facebook declined to comment, while Google did not reply to an email seeking comment.

Google's Project Loon aims to provide 'inexpensive' internet access across India through a network of helium-filled solar-powered balloons placed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 32 km. Pilot projects are underway in New Zealand, California and Brazil.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has previously played down the effectiveness of Google's balloons, saying they have a shorter life than drones and can't survive the rigour of weather patterns. "This means drones have more endurance than balloons, while also being able to have their location precisely controlled," he had said in a white paper on drones earlier this year.

Facebook's Connectivity Lab is developing massive, yet light, solarpowered drones which will be able to fly for years at a time and serve as large connectivity hubs, the division's engineering director Yael Maguire had said. The first of these drones may well be deployed in India, it was reported earlier this month.

"So there are many choices we have as a nation — we can use 2G, 3G or 4G, we can talk about balloons or drones. But my belief is that this is one other technology which can be used," Pramanik said. Microsoft is not talking about running a network, but more about creating a technology meant for emerging markets, he said. "We'd like government, nations and telecom companies to use it."

The radio interface developed by Microsoft functions like Wi-Fi router on a bigger scale. It provides wireless connectivity across a 10 km radius with speeds of up to 16 Mbps, a much larger area and speeds than the typical routers set up for commercial use today .

Using White-Fi and dynamic spectrum, there is possibility of extending the network coverage by 10 kms from each of the 250,000 touch points and then connect another router and extend it by another 10 kms, effectively blanketing the country, Pramanik added.

Under an ambitious Rs 1.13 lakh crore 'Digital India' initiative, the government plans to use the national optic fibre network project to deliver e-services in areas such as health, education to every nook and corner of the country. The network, which is positioned to form the backbone of the Digital India programme, will be deployed only at the gram panchayat level. Reaching the end consumer homes, schools, hospitals and other institutions may still require wireless technology, especially in hard-to reach areas.

Zuckerberg, who visited India recently, reportedly had expressed Facebook's desire to deploy alternative last-mile connectivity technology through drones and satellite communications. Google and Microsoft have also pitched their technologies.

While tech giants vie for a share of the massive project, experts say a single solution may not be the sole answer to providing last mile connectivity. "It is possible that a combination of multiple technologies will be required to ensure ubiquitous internet access, as one single type of technology may reach only a select area or people," said an industry insider who did not want to be named.

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Points to be keep in mind while Emailing Someone..

Emails are a fantastic way of communicating with your office colleagues, customers, partners, associates and several other external contacts. They are quick, easy and a powerful medium of communication. However, just like every person with a Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera doesn’t automatically become a photographer, every person knowing how to use an email service doesn’t necessarily know how to compose a “proper” email.

Even though e-mail messaging is the dominant form of business communication today, we have grown callous. The other day someone sent me an email with just an attachment. No subject line, no body text, no ‘Hi’, nothing. After spending sometime confoundedly staring at the document, I wrote back to the sender seeking some sort of explanation. It did come, but without as much an apology. Not acceptable. Our e-mail message reflects us and our company, so we ought to be careful.

There are certain professional standards that are expected from all those who use e-mails to communicate on a daily basis. Here are a few things to keep in mind regarding professional e-mail conduct:

Reply on time

Yes, yes you are very busy. Not a second to spare. But so is the person at the other end. He/she is not sitting there shooting emails to random people. There is obviously a purpose behind it. And he/she is certainly not paid to follow up with you multiple times. If you’re travelling and have no access to internet, that is pardonable, however, if you’re not responding despite so much technology and your fancy gadgets, then well, you should perhaps be nominated for the “Busiest employee of the year” award. And no it’s not a good thing!

Get the basics right, always

It’s fine to be informal, but it’s not fine to be sloppy. Spellings and grammar are essential. Very essential. If you’re not sure of how your email reads, have a colleague read it and then apply that feedback in your communication. That is much better than writing, “I am gone through document. Really good wordings. But needed more work. Will calling be you later.”

Spell the person’s name correctly

How hard it is to spell someone’s name correctly? You might think it is not something to make a scene about, but it matters. It speaks volumes about your attitude. “If he/she cannot take the time to get my name right, can I trust him/her with other responsibilities?” is what a colleague or client might end up thinking about you. So always get people’s name right. 

Stick to the point

OK, so you are so excellent with your words that they call you The Wordsmith in your circles. Bravo! But that doesn’t mean you write a short story in the garb of an email. “So this happened, and then I realized that that was just not right…” No one has the time or patience to read emails that require multiple scrolling. Cut to the chase if you will. Also mention your subject line clearly. Don't just say, "Hello" or "John here.” Specify the purpose of writing the email.

Don’t overuse URGENT and HIGH-PRIORITY

Do not use Urgent or Important for all of your emails. Use it judiciously. You do not want to overuse and put people off forever. Flag your emails instead as High Importance. But again, use it sparingly, only when absolutely required.

You there, listen to me!

That’s how it sounds when people use a thousand exclamation marks. It is urgent. Got it. I need you to answer right now. We understand. But that urgency can easily be communicated with words. “This is super urgent. Please reply as soon as possible.” Now instead if I say, “This is super urgent!!!!!” Sounds rude, doesn’t it? Or for that matter even question marks. Shooting an email with several “????” is not going to expedite things. 

Don’t scream

USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AMOUNTS TO SCREAMING. You might be making the world’s most important announcement, but there is no need to scream. We can hear you just fine. At the same time, using all lowercase letters suggests you’re lazy. Use sentence case always. If you do feel the need to emphasize or highlight something, bold the text or italicize. You can also use asterisks. Some color is also fine. But again, don’t go wild with that either.

Stop using abbreviations

Someone said, “WC” to me the other day. I later discovered it meant, “Welcome”. How annoying? I am sure taking a second longer to spell out a word fully is not going to bring the world to an end. Who likes to see abbreviations like, “I am AFK ATM, but AISI, this is not what we decided. But you can go ahead AYOR.” Please Google to know what these shortened words mean. Follow standard writing protocol as often as possible and refrain from using abbreviations. I will leave you with another gem: “Hw cn v mk up fr tis loss of opp? Pl ans asap. Ty.”

The “reply-all” syndrome

So you are part of a group e-mail. Awesome. Something important is taking place and you have been informed along with hundred others. And in your enthusiasm, you hit the ‘reply all’ button to say, “That’s great”, or “Yay, super” instead of replying to the sender directly. Now imagine if every person in that list does a ‘reply all’ to say things that are completely irrelevant to the 98 others, soon we would need to call in the National Disaster Response Force to save our inboxes. So please don’t.

Common courtesies

We are all working for the same company. Correct. We are all paid for what we do. Correct. But that still doesn’t absolve us from being courteous towards our colleagues. You don’t want to sound like you’re ordering everyone around. Compare “Do this now,” with “Please do this now.” Pick a winner, please. A well placed ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ doesn’t hurt (that’s a promise) and gets things done quickly. So be generous with their usage.

Using emoticons

It’s fine to use a smiley or two when writing to people you know, but with someone you are interacting with for the first time? Umm, no. Not only is it inappropriate, it is also highly unprofessional. And no images either. We are fine without looking at a prairie field in the background.

Love your signature? 

Of course you do. But don’t add famous quotes or life lessons to your signature that you consider profound. “I believe I can fly!!!" Good for you, but frankly, people don’t really care. They also don’t care about how much one believes in hard work or God! Simply mention your name, designation, contact information, and website details. Follow your company’s guidelines for more clarity.

Face-time is still important

In this age of SMSing and emailing, we are constantly failing to understand the importance of a face-to-face interaction or even getting on the phone with someone to sort out issues. You do not need to email every little thing to someone sitting right next to you. Sometimes the person could miss out on your email: cluttered inbox; didn’t get the time to check, and so on. Here you are expecting a response from someone who sits two chairs away and is not even aware of it, and in the meanwhile your blood pressure is shooting through the roof because of his/her “insensitive” attitude. Do not use emails to escape difficult situations or conversations. Speak to that person directly.

Emailing isn’t rocket science, but it does call for a certain level of awareness and finesse. Follow these basic rules when you compose your next email, and you shall be fine. Happy Emailing!