Airtel Broadband: A Money Fleecing Scheme

[Pankaj]

They(Airtel) have provided me ADSL2+

 

[varun120]

That is a problem with ADSL, not Airtel. You would have the exact same problem on any other DSL-based ISP. Unfortunately, the DSL market in India is still over 90%

I would hardly call myself an Airtel sympathizer - anyone can vouch for that - but slow upload speeds on ADSL is a technology issue, not an ISP issue. Period. The rest (smartbytes etc) well... if you don't like it, vote with your wallet. And get EVERYONE you meet to do the same. It's all about the money, and the only way they're going to listen.

That's an interesting sense of entitlement you have there. There is no reason the ISPs would have to provide you with any particular speed post FUP. In many countries you get reduced to 64k after you hit the FUP speed. Yes, dial-up (well, ISDN) speeds. And that's from pre-FUP speeds of 20 to 100mbit/s. AND WE LIKE IT! (...we don't really, but still... I'm in old-man mode right now) You're damn lucky to get 512k, IMO.
Granted, in the countries mentioned, they do usually have plans which go up to 500GB or 1TB for the high-usage people compared to Airtels max plan of what, 175GB?
My personal view is you should get what you pay for: if you need a plan of 100GB, and try to save yourself 300 bucks by opting for a 50GB plan instead, you lose the right to complain (of course, this assumes that a plan that suits your needs is on offer, of course - if you genuinely need 300, 500, 1000GB and only buy a 175GB plan because it's the biggest one they offer, then yes, definitely complain, it's stupid of the provider to not offer a 300/500/1000GB plan in that case).
On the flipside, if you need a plan of 100GB and buy a plan of 100GB and usually use 100GB +/- 10GB then you're doing it right.

Mate I don't think I'll be needing more than 50 gbs. I've been using wireless internet of 12 gb fup. And, sometimes I run out of ideas what to download. I really like your concept. But what I'll need is a very good speed with a decent usage limit. I was talking about others who download a lot, they should get better post fup speed, as the usage limit is not big and plans are expensive. Btw, is hayai available in Thane?

 

[mgcarley]

Mate I don't think I'll be needing more than 50 gbs. I've been using wireless internet of 12 gb fup. And, sometimes I run out of ideas what to download. I really like your concept. But what I'll need is a very good speed with a decent usage limit. I was talking about others who download a lot, they should get better post fup speed, as the usage limit is not big and plans are expensive.

The point I was trying to make was that users should buy a plan that suits their usage. If you need ~10GB a month, buy 10GB a month. If you need 1000GB a month, buy 1000GB a month (assuming such a plan is available). That's all.

Btw, is hayai available in Thane?

No offense: this is not a Hayai thread and I don't wish to hijack it. I comment here as a regular Internet user and/or because this thread was mentioned to me by Sushubh on Twitter. Please PM me instead.

 

[Sushubh]

Yup. Most folks affected by FUP are those who get a plan which is not according to their usage.

 

[iChaitanya]

Why would anyone want to download backups of 8GB daily? Storing them online is cheaper than paying airtel to download them locally.

 

[varun120]

Most people download indiscriminately, after getting an unlimited plan. Some people say with an unlimited 2mbps speed they download 150+ gbs a month.That means they download 10+ hours a day.

 

[tyrannosaurhex]

@OP : Comparing Internet in India to Internet in Developed countries is like comparing apples to oranges.
In India last mile connectivity for ADSL/ ADSL2+ exists only in metros, teir-2 towns, even where the user base is not at high levels of penetration. So obviously, its a rule of demand and supply.
Secondly, in developed world, even an average user like you and me would be user a Leased line/ fibre connection at home, thereby making the Leased lines that much affordable and easier to provide by ISPs.

 

[mgcarley]

@OP : Comparing Internet in India to Internet in Developed countries is like comparing apples to oranges.
In India last mile connectivity for ADSL/ ADSL2+ exists only in metros, teir-2 towns, even where the user base is not at high levels of penetration. So obviously, its a rule of demand and supply.
Secondly, in developed world, even an average user like you and me would be user a Leased line/ fibre connection at home, thereby making the Leased lines that much affordable and easier to provide by ISPs.

While your first line is correct, for the third I think maybe you are a bit misinformed - a pretty large percentage of the world's Internet is provided by ADSL, but, in the developed world they are (usually) of higher quality than what is found in India, removing the requirement for an "average user" to get a leased line.
"Business Class Internet" however is available in many countries (usually about 50-100% more than a residential line) but it's definitely not a leased line - a form of connectivity which is definitely *not* affordable due to the attached SLA and that you usually have to buy *a lot* for the provider to even consider providing you a connection.
Fibre (FTTH, FTTB) penetration worldwide is still very low even if there are a few nation states (Singapore, HK etc) that have very high fibre penetration and countries with excellent broadband deployments (mostly in Europe, Japan, SK) with decent amounts of FTTx around.
The difference between India and the rest of the developed world seems to be that in the developed world, bandwidth is considered a commodity whereas in India it's still considered a goldmine.

 

[varun120]

The difference between India and the rest of the developed world seems to be that in the developed world, bandwidth is considered a commodity whereas in India it's still considered a goldmine.

Well said mate.

 

[ChairmanSaab]

Any plan of Hayai to go nationwide?