Of course, I am pissed off with the development. There is no infrastructure to speak off. Hence even though I know that broadband came in picture in and around 2004, it’s been over 6 years and we are hardly seeing any traction in the space as far as the speeds and/or prices are concerned.

Hence it is to have them admit on paper that the prices have “stagnated” indeed. 256 kbps is nothing in this day and age when the speeds elsewhere have touched over Gigabits.

The “perfect pricing” can always be debated. I would root for ATLEAST 2 mbps for INR 700-900 price band. This of course has to come with any stupid “fair usage policy”. In any case, wherever there is abuse of the network, they ought to ask the customer to perhaps a higher speed band.

Network abuse is in built and the very idea that traffic is being monitored ought to be deterrent enough. In any case, even with the restricted traffic shaping, I hardly see any traction in the space; it is an awful experience to stream the videos or access data intensive web sites.

If majority of the user space in India centers on Social Networking/Matrimonial sites and email, I don’t foresee any “overloading” of the networks. If they are really interested in lowering the overall costs, then they have to explore alternatives like NIXI to peer the data amongst themselves or cache the data for faster access.

Why BSNL then? Foremost reason is that I am it’s customer. Secondly, it can be alleged that because of it’s “monopolistic stance”, the real “revolution” in speeds and prices has to come only after goading it to work. If BSNL as the “market leader” is made to act on prices being offered, others have to match up to it. Well, thats what the intention in the long run is.

One more thing. I have specifically asked for the various break up charges. I strongly feel that the charges ought to be in public domain. How much is BSNL really affected? It is buying bandwidth from upstream and distributing it (apart from owning it’s own gateways, if I am not mistaken). One ought to know how much it really costs to move gigabytes of data on it’s pipes. In the same vein, RTI filed with TRAI previously was very clear that there is nothing like “Fair Usage Policy”. Hence it would at least force BSNL to acknowledge that FUP is “illegal” and help is to fix a responsibility as to who has come up with the idea. He/She should be hauled up over the coals.

Hence this is truly a disruptive power of RTI to expose the cosy nexus between the various ISP’s because they are defrauding their customers. One particular issue that caught my eye was FTH service being advertised as “upto 1 Mbps” and being more expensive than the same service being offered by DSL. Hence, I have asked them for an explanation about the same and the differential in pricing. FTH is not being advertised heavily which has the real potential for future.

I am also keen to know about the “limitation of upload speeds” of 768 kbps (as per their web site); I feel that this is an artificial restriction and should have their response on “traffic shaping”.

It is very clear from the outset that much of the information would be withheld, not revealed etc etc. Hence the best option is to wait, file an appeal and then present the case strongly in the state information commission.

I am willing to fight it out.

…is not strictly limited to India.

Yes, you heard me. India is not the only country with FUPs – check some ISPs abroad. I dare you.

While I support the move to increase the lower-limit to 2mbit/s, the reason for the ISP’s opposition to this is obvious: the financial implications are huge. BUT SPEED DOESN’T COST: Gigabytes do.

All differ depending on the technology in question, but generally speaking I can deliver you 1 gigabyte at 1, 20, 50 or 100 megabits and with a small variation in the actual cost of the equipment (ADSL, VDSL, Fiber), it costs me basically the same. Consider now the various plans available from Airtel, BSNL, Tata, Reliance and others with roughly the same size data-cap: with a price difference based strictly on speed. Doesn’t that piss you off?

(Case in point: Airtel’s 30 and 50mbit/s plans. Both 200GB data caps. Delivered at 30mbit/s or 50mbit/s. Price: Rs1,000 different). #FAIL

So while the slow speeds and tiny data-caps and FUPs may seem like profiteering now, at the current pricing levels (under Rs2000), mandating an increase to a minimum of 2mbit/s (which I personally am hoping for) to call the product “Broadband” would seriously damage profitability of ISPs whose costs can be up to Rs20/GB – or more (depending on their negotiating skills!)

That is, unless some things change.

First: wholesale prices need to come down - 1Cr per year for 155mbit/s is outrageous (even 50 lakhs is still outrageous). On USA-UK, Singapore-USA, Japan-USA, you can get 10Gbit/s for about US$10k/month.

Considering that of all the capacity to India (total is about 20-23 terabits right now) the total usage is still only being measured in gigabits, it’s clearly not a capacity problem, it’s a price problem.

Secondly, NIXI’s tariff structure to be changed to a flat-rate – nowhere else in the world charges per GB at the peering-exchange! In fact, I’d be happy to pay Rs3,00,000 per MONTH for 1gbit/s if the per-GB charges were eliminated.

Thirdly, Local Loop Unbundling – I would suggest (both as an foreigner and as someone starting an ISP) that this be done as soon as possible. Yesterday is better. In fact, it should have been done in 2004 when it was suggested originally – perhaps India would not be in the situation it is now.

But if it is done, then we can eliminate dependence on cablewalas, as they aren’t helping India’s Broadband situation, and BSNL/MTNL can start to get another revenue stream from ISPs who want to lease the copper.

Of course, I outlined all of this in the document to which Sushubh & I contributed but the author of this article (Caught in the Net of slow broadband) sort of failed to mention… well… almost all of it.

So as a consumer, I disagree with FUPs in general. As an ISP/business owner, I see the point of them and that they are a necessary evil.

So what’s my comprimise?

We don’t need to eliminate FUPs completely, just for the FUPs to be fair to the consumer.

This post was originally posted as a comment to the online version of the ToI article mentioned above, but at the time of writing had not been moderated/accepted. It has been modified from it’s original form for some clarification and comic effect.

So far, I haven”t received a response. I am aware that the blog is unable to reach a majority of the Internet users; most of the potential customers also fail to check out the reviews for various ISP’s but then we are sorely limited by choice.

To me, it appears like a simple game. The “base” access is 256 kbps; anything over and above that is a “value added service”. I have no clue as to how the whole thing is priced but logic dictates that it is incremental profit for the telecom companies. The costs are fixed for “digging” up the roads, fixing up the telephone connections and if they are able to give an “error” free connection, people are loath to change their service providers in a jiffy. In any case, landlines are more reliable than a mobile connection because they are not prone for “congestion” or call drops as the case with the airwaves is.

TRAI has not addressed the customer claims so far. I remember the time when I had to struggle upfront against BSNL to start with “unlimited” connection. It was a long fight and after emailing them incessantly, I managed to get “true freedom”.

Right to Information Act has changed the game plan by giving the customer real power in terms of information. I have earlier mentioned that it is one of the most progressive legislation in the history ii independent India because the grass roots policy can be questioned to bring about a change. The appellate authority has 45 days to respond to the appeal failing which I would be escalating the matter to CIC, New Delhi and press for charges against the respective Information Officers.

I would have been happy had this case got the media scrutiny and then bring TRAI on the mat and screw them LITERALLY. For long, we have suffered enough lobbies because it doesn’t suit them. Trust me, we have enough bandwidth to support millions of ‘unlimited connections’ but are at the mercy of the likes of ISP’s like Sify and Airtel. Those associations have money, legal power and reach in the media. We as individual customers, don’t.

I find the idea to “petition” totally useless. If anything has to happen in democracy, one has to reach out to do something. Clicking on the petition is a SURE SHOT sign that you are a f***ing impotent asshole. This “clickitivism” does nothing because these petitions are as good as useless. If you are so overtly concerned about your rights, it’s a better option to hurl some stones outside their corporate offices after ganging up. Or protest outside naked with a group of people. That would generate more news rather than sitting on your sorry ass for want of doing ‘something’.

I appreciate all of your concerns and do stay glued here for any news. I shall update it as soon as I get any information.