Monthly Archive for February, 2006

More updates

Published on 26th Feb 2006 in General Thoughts, Indian Telecom and Reliance Broadband. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Reliance is almost near my doorstep. They have dug up the roads; got in their thick cables and it’s all 20 ft from the place where I live. Hopefully soon, I would have some decent options instead of BSNL. Well, someday we might just have fibre to home stuff- 100 mbps with on line gaming, file sharing, VoIP stuff all at the same time. It’s possible with today’s technology but not for a “developing” nation like us. With the likes of BSNL pimping it’s networks, we might never be able to see this kind of technology soon here.

So, it seems that their plans are on full steam ahead. Let me see if I can get some pics on line. I still have no idea about their tariffs but wouldn’t it be cool to have 1mbps for 500 per month unlimited? Or scalable bandwidth when you are file sharing or launched VoIP applications?

I am a bandwidth whore and surely there are others who have the same feeling.

On the flip side, I am missing writing all around here but life’s been twisted beyond reason. It’s ultimately the question of the career; I need to scale up my own efforts.

I shall keep you informed as usual; RSS feeds are the way to go. I noticed there are 71 readers ONLY. Is that an indication of popularity or unawareness?

No further news from CNN-IBN. I do finally agree with most of you to extend the idea beyond the narrow confines of the blog. It would do good to get some readership in order to generate a public opinion. Though, it’s very unflattering to work for a foreign owned media channel; Techwhack doesn’t have resources to get dedicated servers nor any other way to get multiple hosts to ensure that this blog is never down. We are trying to make the best of the given circumstances. These guys are awash with some serious cash. Plus, there seems to be some hassle with the CMS; I fail to understand as to why they aren’t implementing Word Press. It’s Open Source, the code is for everyone to see and setting up is a kids play. Even a BSNL employee can learn this. All they have to do is give the remote login; keep the administrator privileges to themselves like the plugins, templates et al. If they can’t do it, Techwhack can provide Word Press solutions. Yes, we’d do it free of cost for them! Though, I shudder at the thought of having any trace of Microsoft around. Puke…

The established media interests have a single minded dedication to scale up “eye balls” to ensure that their investments show immediate returns. For the same reason, I refused to run any advertisements here because it would have been an uphill struggle to ensure traffic and hope to capitalise that in revenues. Would you like to see underwear or sanitary napkins adverts here? You would see them on TV. (Interestingly, news channels haven’t aired any condom adverts so far- do they seriously doubt the viewership that it’s not fit for those?) While there has been no offer about remuneration, it would a trade off between readership and independence. The moment any post is “edited”, the deal is off. There aren’t many people who read blogs; by and large it remains opinionated and I doubt whether it has any effect on the “thinking patterns” of humans. The most inane blogs get most readership.

There is a lot more planned for the write up. As soon as I have some breathing time, it shall be up. I really want to focus on the Digital Divide for times to come. This is indeed a serious issue. Plus of course, a lot of Microsoft bashing and Open Source promotion. Once my thoughts are framed up, I shall put them here.

Surely, this blog has morphed from a “link catcher” and “telecom news” to something different. If only the Indian Telecom evolved to some decent standards.

Meanwhile, I did put up some links. One is notably on Bruce Perens and other on Richard Stallman. Both these guys are twisted in their own way but likeable all the same. Your comments are invited and welcome.

BSNL Broadband: Unlimited soon!

Published on 23rd Feb 2006 in BSNL Broadband. 7 Comments Tags: , , .

As usual, I quote from the officer’s mail. The emphasis is mine.

We also are aware that there are some segment(sic) of customer for whom the unlimited plan is going to be the right choice. That’s why this case has been initiated. The details of the plan is still under deliberation and we expect it to be finalized by mid of next month.

The same will be intimated through our website, the moment it is launched. Yes, I will personally intimate you also(sic) through e-mail.

Could I have my head swelled up here? The officer himself is going to mail me back!

So now, the spelling mistakes are gone; grammatical bloopers remain. Surely, someone has read the previous posts!

I hope they make it earlier; I need the unlimited bandwidth desperately for updating through medical journals.

There are other developments too; I am restricting myself at the moment for these announcements. It’s a good feeling that my efforts have borne some fruit. Though my fingers have actually worne out tapping on the keyboard incessantly.

By the way, this mail came in after two mails were sent; the last one specifically mentioned whether there is an official dictated policy as to refuse any query from a consumer. More or less a stinker.

Once the CNN-IBN deal comes through (if at all it happens), I would DEFINITELY highlight the present impasse. BSNL remains a public organisation and these officers are public “servants”. Who died and made them God? What divine right they have to pimp their last mile access? Why can’t these officer’s be made accountable for their lapses and mental harrasment?

Tough questions but no answers forthcoming.

BSNL Broadband: Mail from BSNL

Published on 22nd Feb 2006 in BSNL Broadband and Other Frustrated Customers. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I have decided to post the mail recieved from Mr Sanjeev Verma who is the Jt. Dy Director General(Broadband Network Planning). In the interest of fairplay and to back up my own claims.

Since Email is accorded the legal status, it is to be presumed that he wrote from an official’s perspective. Therefore his mail is on record here. It struck me to post this one here because any further communication from BSNL regarding unlimited plans isnt forthcoming. My mails have been meeting with the same silence as before.

The reply from Mr Sanjeev is as follows (spelling mistakes et al). I swear I haven’t changed anything :-D Emphasis is mine:

The 400 MB plan is a entry level plan meant for new users to get the feel of broadband. For that 400 MB limit is more than sufficient based on the usage statistics. This details is available in this website regarding the cap and the incremental charges. Moreover, the customer also have the flexibility the amount of download he has done on a per session basis.

This is detailed to thrust upon the fact that BSNL always believes in trasnsparency (!). If something is charged, it is explicitly indicated. (Well, I wish they could also claim the same thing about replying to consumers).

Secondly, the plan has been subjected to revision from the inception of broadband service. There was no free surfing in the night (fron 2AM to 8 AM)at the time of launch, but has now been offered. Secondly. earlier incremental charges per MB was around Rs 2 which has been brought down to Rs 1.20.
(For BSNL this must have been a generational shift to introduce unlimited surfing!)

Yes, there is scope for further reduction which will be done as the international bandwidth rate falls further. (No scope as yet. TRAI is sleeping over it still. VSNL needs to be reigned in. I belive that BSNL can look for alternative sources and try and negotiate the best rates for itself).

Thirdly, For the application suiting to your need, we are in the process of coming out with unlimited download plan. This will free from the burden of usage charges. (WHEN?)

Hope this answers the points raised by you.

So, the top brass is on record; they fail to check their mistakes; treat the end customer as an idiot; believe in doling out favours as in the British raj of yore whereby you had to submit your “petition” asking for favours. This bureaucratic mindset has pervailed right through.

You can direct your queries to Mr Sanjeev Verma at sanjeevverma(at)bsnl.in

You can also quote this post :-D

Reliance Broadband:Some details

Published on 22nd Feb 2006 in Reliance Broadband. 13 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I have taken a liberty from self imposed hiatus here to break this news to all. From my insider sources in Reliance, it is reliably learnt that Reliance is stepping up services for Wireline and aims to go big in Broadband. Roughly in about 3 months time.

It all boils down to one thing. To challange the ultimate domination of BSNL in the Wireline space. I was told that BSNL’s refusal to open up the last mile access was going no where; plus in any case they would have opened up only those loops which are 5 years or older ones. Which are practically useless for data applications since they were never designed keeping these factors in mind.

The exact technical details elude me.

Still, it’s a good news. The roll out would be staggered. Reliance seems to be concenterating on the plum cities as for now. It has already started off it’s wireline in Chandigarh and perhaps Ludhiana in Punjab. DSL isn’t being offered but dial up is available.

A disclaimer here. 3 months is based on their internal projections. If they decide to stagger or put the plans on hold due to unforseen circumstances we might have to suffer the BIG question mark again. Reliance Broadband when?

Further, it would be copper connectivity to the last mile which means that it would be DSL. Since DSL can be scaled upto 25 Mbps, this is more than sufficient for the video applications and gaming at the moment. Of course, 100 Mbps is in a different league altogether. Forget it guys. 100 Mbps is what seems to be a magical figure. It’s like looking for a sane soul in BSNL; a needle in a haystack; a mere number for us and much like the elusive missing page in the Government’s files……

Reliance is perfectly poised for kicking BSNL right in between where it hurts them most. They would surely undercut the tariffs to scale up.

Meanwhile, Reliance seems to have cut out the idea to loan bandwidth to cable operators and mercifully, it isnt going via Sify’s way. Surely it was their waterloo.

I shall keep you posted as and when something really interesting comes up.

BSNL hasn’t responded so far to any further queries about the unlimited plans pricing. Nor there has been any activity about the CNN-IBN blog. They are in the process of setting up a CMS with remote login facility; further they seem to be fine tuning the idea about having blogs existing with the mainstream media. So for everything else, you would have to suffer Rajdeep’s outbursts for the time being.

Taking a break

Published on 15th Feb 2006 in General Thoughts. 8 Comments Tags: .

It’s been almost a year that I have been blogging.

I am planning to take a break from the monotony; there is a veritable soup of ideas that plays havoc with my sanity.

On a positive note, BSNL is planning to come around with unlimited plans soon. This was revealed in the email discussion with the Jt Deputy Director. Though, I am deeply circumspect about the intended plans.

Courtesy demands that I inform you all of the plans. Keep in touch through the RSS feeds-as and when something really happens it shall be up online.

In the meantime, I was offered to blog for CNN-IBN. This is promoted by TV 18 group; I haven’t heard from them so far ever since I demanded that my posts should be free of copyright in the spirit of Open Access. It would give me a wider audience anyway but given the fact that there are “clicking morons” galore, I really wonder as to how it would actually affect public opinion. Of course, I am in a double mind as to how to proceed further. Still, I am keeping my options open and it shall be here as and when anything happens.

In case you wish to contact me you can do so at drapuri at gmail.com Your feedback is appreciated.

Another mail to BSNL Broadband

Published on 15th Feb 2006 in General Thoughts. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

I got a reply from some of the BSNL’s staffer’s; most likely PA to the CMD. Here is the mail:

This is in reference to the mail sent to CMD BSNL regarding BSNL broadband pricing.

In this regard, it is intimated that BSNL offers wide range of plan targetted at various segments of customer for its broadband service. The entry level plan is as low as Rs 250/ per month.

The plans are revised on periodic basis keeping in sync with the market trends.

Your specific query regarding “the broadband pricing works out to be exorbitant costly in the long run” may kindly be elaborated with example, as there are different plans for different downloads requirement of the customer.

My reply:

I am glad someone has bothered to reply to the email; I had practically given up all hope for resolution of a nagging problem.

You wrote:
“The entry level plan is as low as Rs 250/ per month.“

You fail to mention that this entry level plan is capped with a ludicrous 400 MB limit. 400 MB, Mr Sanjeev hardly suffices for usual browsing or even checking email. It’s good on the promotional offers and bill boards but it’s grossly violative of the Advertising Standards Council rules where by BSNL fails even to mention “conditions apply”. This is a systematic failure of the reglatory regime; most of the consumers are willing to be insulted for whatever “intellect” they might have.

You wrote:
“The plans are revised on periodic basis keeping in sync with the market trends.”

In the past 1 year, there hasn’t been a revision of the download limits nor the prices or free upgrades to higher speeds which is the norm across the world. Neither there has been any addition of value added services like online gaming or IPTV. British Telecom gives 8 mbps as entry level access; in UK the best ISP’s give 25Mbps all for less than 25 pounds which is affordable in purchasing parity terms. In Hong Kong 1Gbps has made it’s debut; in Japan 100 Mbps is the norm. South Korea (roughly the size of New Delhi) has ISP’s galore with consumers spoilt for choice. The subtext is that none of them initially started off with kbps Internet. Yet, we are a “developing country”, so we must be “happy in what Government decides” for us.

You wrote:
“Your specific query regarding the broadband pricing works out to be exorbitant costly in the long run may kindly be elaborated with example...”

This is the main thrust of the mail.

As I surf Internet primarily for information in Medicine and latest trends, I have to download a lot of audio files; power point presentations, streaming videos of live operations via real player; medical journals et al. I have had the oppurtunity to interact with various specialists online via VoIP. However, all this eats up bandwidth; much more than the allotted 1 GB. In any case, once the “free limit” is crossed, per MB of upload/download data transfer is exorbitant and smacks of monopolistic and discriminatory pricing.

Airtel at present gives 256k for Rs 1000/- WITHOUT any restrictions. From 10 pm to 6 am- the speeds are doubled. While it is ADSL technology, there have been reports that the contention ratio is 1:1 meaning thereby that effectively people are able to upload and download at the same rate. BSNL severly caps this in the ratio of 1:50 which makes is USELESS for VoIP applications. I have observed a high packet loss which means that the voice call clarity is pits.

I am MORE THAN willing to pay a higher monthly rent but minus any restrictions. Once they are removed, I am planning to shift to higher 512 k package since it would suffice my bandwidth needs.I understand that most of the broadband connections are an upgrade from the existing dial up; I am constrained by the absence of any other ISP in my area. Once I have a choice, I am willing to migrate unless BSNL gives me a compelling reason to stick on with it’s “broadband services”. The anxiety is pronounced because I need to update myself in view of my pending examinations.

Indeed, this is a severe indictment of the present set up, Mr Sanjeev. If the mainstream media decides to air the problems with the BSNL broadband, it would be a severely embarassing situation for all the concerned parties. Unfortuantely, they are far removed from reality; not given to national interests at all. I further understand that there has been a rash of disconnections from BSNL Broadband precisely from those areas where Airtel has extended it’s fixed line operations. This is a telling commentary of the services. As they say, proof of the pudding is in eating it. Similarly for the same reasons, BSNL’s Cell One Services have taken a severe hit in Punjab; for the same reasons- lack of service, customer orientation and agressive private players who are expanding capacity in the rural areas like never before.

Mr Sanjeev, I hope I have made my point clear. And elaborated enough. I wrote back to Mr Lav Gupta who unfortunately didn’t respond to any further queries.

Meanwhile, I would be grateful if you give me a clear idea whether this feedback was enough to bring about a change. There are lot of other subscribers who “suffer” at the capped limits and speeds but strangely enough refuse to speak up. Perhaps they haven’t been determined enough to pursue the matter with the top bosses of BSNL given the fact that most of the mails are not replied to or are ignored.

Taking a hiatus

Published on 09th Feb 2006 in General Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I’d be gone for a while; you can waste your time here digging the archives.

Meanwhile, Opera Techincal Preview has been released and you can download it via Opera labs. It’s a proof of concept and its not meant to be installed over your exisiting version. I have been with Opera ever since version 7.50 and can safely vouch for the fact that it rocks. The newer version would greatly enhance your browsing pleasure.

In anycase, you can see for yourself about the site specific preferences; you can literally strip off the advertisements.

Two screenshots here on Flickr:

One using Firefox minus the Ad Blocking and the other using it’s site specific preferences and Ad blocker on full cylinders. Interestingly, Firefox screws up in full screen mode; it doesn’t hide the other tabs by default; not a good practise in my opinion. Opera allows you to navigate by the mouse button alone.

Frankly, I am making a strong case for Opera’s adoption in Indian market. I hope that you might be spurred on to choose this for yourself.

I am adding a few links in case you wish to browse.

Enjoy!

This reminds me that I am leaving on an optimistic note after a long time! In real life, I see a lot of things as good. And can appreciate some finer things in life by God’s grace. One has to put up an ugly mirror to disprove the mismanaged affairs and hopefully spur on the debate for public accountability. That is the purpose behind sharing thoughts with you all.