If you think that 20-30mbit/s Internet is all about only browsing or piracy, you have a limited imagination. There could be a world of opportunities for the enterprising person should high-bandwidth services become the norm in India.puneet28 said:
If only that were true. If it were about population density, why don't the metros all have 100mbit/s services available to everyone? Your average Indian city is far more densely populated with Internet users than most other regions on the planet.There are many issues to overcome, many of which I have discovered to my cost and misfortune.meetdilip said:
The examples about Centurylink DSL was based on Houston, TX and Frontier on St Louis, MO, so no, I'm not comparing rural America with modern India. I am comparing similar places - somewhere like Chicago to somewhere like Mumbai; or some mid-sized town in Michigan to some mid-sized town in Karnataka.FWIW, in the US, Chicago was one of the *worst* Internet experiences in the whole country, even with all the Starbucks and McDonalds and everywhere with free wifi. Even plugging directly in to a Comcast box it was hideous. I actually had better connectivity in some bum-town in Michigan than I did almost anywhere in Chicago.Additionally, like India, prices are generally uniform - I'm going to pay approximately the same for a standard 512k package on BSNL in Jaipur as I will in Trivandrum in the same way I'm going to pay for the basic-rate Broadband on any given ISP (let's take AT&T as an example) in the US._Chairman_Saab_ said:
Whoever told you this has misled you.L0rd_Aryan said:
Actually, Telcos are required to buy something like 30% of their equipment from Indian manufacturers, they are considering to make this 100%In addition, there is a rather hefty import tax on telecom equipment. That doesn't help.Pity that all the Indian manufactured stuff (including home electronics, not just the telco equipment) I've come across is utter rubbish and breaks faster than a childs toy on christmas morning.Frankly, I'd rather buy Chinese than Indian - at least their copies are of reasonable quality.The way I see it is this: if you're willing to pay me American prices for service, I'm willing to provide you with American level of service... that is to say, don't expect 20mbit/s unlimited for Rs500 any time soon.sunnymatta said:
No argument there. IMO, we really need to stop simply pointing the finger and figure out *why* that is. What's stopping India from having better quality of services and speeds?sting921 said:
On the petrol, yes, I find that strange (when India has oil and refineries and stuff)... on the rest... it all seems about the same depending on what you're buying (luxury goods are the exception, there is a 52% import duty on that, which is why you often see celebs get stung when they land at the airport after going abroad). Food, while more expensive now than it was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years ago, is still pretty cheap by world standards.sting921 said:
Who do you think pays for Comhem to install & maintain that line?I assume you live in subsidized student housing, so I sure hope you stay in Sweden after you graduate and pay them some of their taxes back.FWIW, it was the same for me when I lived in Finland, although this is going back several years so it wasn't quite 10mbit/s back then... but I did stay and pay Finnish taxes after I graduated, so, I'm sure I more than made up for it.guyaborad said:
Fingerpointing at the government? Pointless.For the most part, they are a bunch of people who have no fricken idea about Broadband and it's value or even the fact that it's wanted. You could talk to them about it until you're blue in the face and all they'll do is just say "oh" and then offer you Rs100 for your vote in the next election.An attitude not unlike this.Sure, they have made some wonderful plans in the past, but they well over 50% short of the 2004 plan in terms of numbers. Why is that?Local infrastructure is a bitch to lay - and expensive. First you get the government's approval. Then the city. Then the ward. Then the society. And there's ALWAYS going to be someone meddling - whether it's just that he doesn't want his already wonky driveway to have a teeny little 2cm wide cut in it (to be filled with grout) or that he doesn't want his driveway to be obstructed for even 4 seconds despite the fact that he'll be at work all day because he or someone he knows is a VIP somewhere... or the society doesn't want it's fence which is already covered in bird droppings to have a piece of plastic piping screwed to it for cosmetic reasons or... or... or... you need to pay us for electricity (even when the equipment is completely passive and doesn't use any)... the list goes on...And if it's long-haul infra, well, let's just announce the creation of another network because... taxpayers!! Despite the fact that at least 4 government entities have lakhs of KMs of fibre - much of it unused - all over the country... never mind the price per KM that they want to lease capacity is insulting.And fingerpointing at the ISPs? They're just there to make money... most users are uneducated about the availability of services according to the rest of the world, but hey, this is India, and India is *always* different (apparently), so if it's wireless, we blame the spectrum. If it's wired, it's the difficulty of laying new cables or leasing space on existing ones (assuming the owner of said cables likes you, he might give you a price which is slightly less obscene than it would be otherwise).Yeah... it's not just one entity at fault, and they'll all blame each other. I too am guilty of this. So you can imagine the futility of pointing the finger_Chairman_Saab_ said:
...yes and no. I doubt as many of your tax rupees go towards infrastructure when compared to other countries, and those that do always go to those builders who have a long history of doing shoddy jobs with substandard materials because they gave the best kickbacks to the decision maker...sting921 said:
That's called micro-trenching. Popular in built up areas because it creates the least disturbance to the existing surroundings. Sadly, in some parts of Mumbai the people of the area won't even let that happen.sting921 said:
Human life doesn't have much value, it would seem.sting921 said:
I was in Qatar a couple of months ago and it seems to be more of an attitude difference between the two types of cultures. The Arabs know how to get things done IMO. And they're willing to pay for it.sting921 said:
I disagree with Airtel's "retention" model, but hey, if that's what they need to do.Sad thing is, a lot of people go for it. Only to be screwed over a few months later. Sushubh can testify to that.I don't think the problem is necessarily rules (or lack thereof) - it's that they're allowed to get away with flouting the rules with a minimum penalty. If the penalty outweighed the benefits they get from screwing the customer (and was actually enforced), they wouldn't do it... think about it, if the telcos can screw a customer for a few months to make an extra Rs500, they will, and the penalty for doing that is only Rs300, then... they still win.If the penalty for doing that was say Rs1,00,000, that might deter them slightly.sting921 said:
