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Net Gains (May 12, 98) |
Last week was a nightmare for Internet users in Bombay. For two
consecutive days, users could not log in to their accounts for
over 10 hours. For regular users, this was as bad as a power cut
for that duration - only in this case we were cut off from the
rest of the world. Business emails were held up (or maybe even
bounced back), and users cumulatively spent thousands of rupees
in phone calls trying to log in, only to be denied access. To
add to that, the helpdesk lines were continuously busy, and the
reception desk staff, curt. The disadvantages of having just one
ISP…
While Bombay has taken this lying down, Internet users elsewhere
in India have finally decided that enough is enough. According
to news reports, Ahmedabad based Consumer Education and Research
Society (CERS) has sent legal notices to VSNL and DOT to make
good the losses suffered by Internet users due to substandard
Internet services provided. If VSNL has to pay up for losses borne
by users all over India, they may no longer be able to continue
boasting about the percentage increase in profits they keep earning!
Net Gains reader Mayank sent in an interesting quote made in the
print media by Mr. B. K. Syngal, VSNL CMD, a few months ago. He
was explaining why VSNL would not provide unlimited usage of the
Internet for a fixed fee, on the lines of Internet Service Provider's
(ISP) offering abroad. "Indians lack ethics. If they get
unlimited usage for a nominal fee, the customers would misuse
it for long hours. The Internet connection would remain open for
24 hours", opined Mr. Syngal. And that's what I'd call
a sweeping statement.
Theek hai. Let's picture a scenario where an Internet subscriber
does actually live upto Mr. Syngal's expectations. The subscriber
would be a really rich nerd - anyone logged on 24 hours a day
would easily get an honors degree in Nerdity from the University
of Cyberia. He'd also better have his medical insurance paid up
to date - he'd need it after a week of continuous online activity.
Even if he survived that one week, would his modem ? His only
social life would be chatting online with junta from around the
globe. His monthly phone bill would be over Rs. 12,000 - and these
are just the MTNL charges - and here lies the pinch. Even if ISPs
here do offer unlimited connectivity, we still end up paying MTNL
an increased rate for phone calls as usage increases - there's
no funda of economies of scale. Before getting a Net connection,
I was billed at Rs. 0.80 per call, the honeymoon ending when I
got a Net connection and am being billed at Rs. 1.40 per call!
One very minor factor Mr. Syngal seems to have forgotten to take
into account is the number of subscribers who can boast of connections
that last for over an hour or two (will they please stand up?).
It's not uncommon to have as many carrier drops in an intended
Internet session as the number of chais we Indians are
accustomed to having in a day. How come there's no voluntary mention
made about the number of subscriber : line ratio - a ratio which
shows how many subscribers have to vie with each other to connect
to each dial up line that VSNL provides. Actually, a more relevant
ratio to consider would be the subscriber :actually-functional-line
ratio !
With all the lafda surrounding the privatisation of Internet
services, it will be quite some time before they setup shop. While
there is currently so much hulla-gulla being raised about
dial-up connections to the Net, the day is not far away when we
won't have to dial up to log on to the Net ! Work is already underway
to make Internet access through cable modems a viable alternative
to the current dial up system - it's already functional in the
US. A cable modem is a device which sits between a personal computer
and a cable television (CATV) network and allows the PC to connect
to the Net through CATV fiber optic networks. Logging on to the
Net through CATV keeps your phone lines free (and gets rid of
that hidden cost), gives you continuous connectivity, TCP/IP access
and will be relatively cheaper. When will we see it in India ?
There are already some bigwigs seriously working on it - but it
really won't be a widespread solution even after I get another
three white hair in my beard. And that's not soon enough !
There's a email virus scare going around these days. Get your
facts right from an archived Net Gains dated 9th July,
1997 (recently updated too)