We are in the midst of a telecom revolution. A revolution that keeps having hiccups every now and then. While most of the hiccups in turn create hiccups for those in power and telecom companies, the users, too, get a jolt every now and then. The Government can, most of the time, only watch helplessly.

The 2G scam is one example. Apart from A. Raja and Niira Radia, many telecom users have also been on the receiving end of the scam -- for no fault of theirs. A customer of a telecom company in Chennai found one day that his phone had gone 'dead'. He later discovered that the company had shut shop as its licence had been cancelled. Yes, the company had informed the customers through SMS about the service termination, with advice about how to port to another operator, but the guy had ignored it, as he was uneducated and could not read English.

Now there seems to be a second wave of aftershocks coming up, with the licence given to Tata Docomo in 2008 coming under the scanner. The Tatas have decided to file a review petition, but what will happen if they lose the case? What if any other operator is also forced to shut shop?

There is also a disctinct probability that several operators, including Airtel, will not be allowed to use 3G roaming services. If that happens, 3G users with these companies will be forced to switch to 'local' operators with 3G licences.

Yes, there will be a massive surge in 'porting' to other operators. But there will be several like the guy above who one fine day, will wake up to dead phones, or the snail-paced 2G browsing.