Yes, but Delhi proper is a mess. Even Gurgaon and Noida will happen before Delhi, but they're also messy, despite being "planned" cities... NCR is a huge challenge (possibly even more so than Mumbai, which is comparatively compact in it's geographical size, but also because NCR covers 3 telecom circles which creates administrative problems to a certain degree as well), so we're approaching that region with caution.
NCR definitely has some problems in terms of the three different administrations and the overall geographic size. But NCR has one of the most broadband hungry customer base in the nation who are frustated with their existing connections. Only Airtel is the somewhat good provider in NCR and they are charging at whim and changing plans as they know that there is no good competition left. Money and high end broadband users is also massive like in Mumbai and so returns should not be a big issue there.
In Noida, Greater Noida might be the city of the future and a good investment for the future as a lot of high end and upper middle class people are purchasing flats there. But there is still sometime left as it is not yet developed fully. Gurgaon is already developed and is a good area as almost all the people have become high end due to various factors. But the density of population and hence, the demand for connections would still be a lot more in Delhi. Even though not planned but the property as well as income rates in Delhi are a lot more than Noida or Gurgaon. And no broadband provider has ever given the "ideal" connection with "good speeds" and "fair" FUP.
Statewise Broadband Subscribers In India – 31st November 2010 - MediaNama
Broadband penetration in Delhi is also similar to Mumbai if not more but the problem is the absence of quality broadband providers in Delhi. Regarding geographic size, it is still not very big as it is just a single city compared to the whole of Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka. South India anyways have better options in terms of internet and so people might not be as "quality broadband hungry" as Delhi and other northern cities.
We are building an FTTH network. You should not encounter virus problems on our network unless you download something from another user. We are not currently planning to use DSL at all because it is not cost-effective to build in to a new network.
Thanks for clarifying that. If virus or privacy is not an issue then there is no problem at all.
There's nothing stopping you from plugging your own WiFi
router in to our CPE, but our WiFi-enabled CPEs come standard with WPA2 and we're trying to get hotspot functionality built in (meaning anyone connecting to WiFi would use his own account credentials and have his own VLAN - meaning if someone connected to your WiFi AP, they would have to use their own account, therefore not contributing to your data usage)... of course, if we can't get that built in to the CPEs, then we will be putting WiFi hotspots around for that purpose anyway as part of a separate service.
Thanks for the explanation. That sounds even better. If WPA2 is enabled then it is fine. I personally use WPA2 and that is more than enough. I have seen BSNL modem cum routers with basic WEP or even without it.
The same or better. Between your CPE and the OLT, traffic is encrypted by default with AES, but if you're doing financial transactions then this would be up to the website to use 128-bit or bettwe SSL encryption anyway and would be the same as any other internet connection. If your information gets stolen, it's more likely that you have malware including a keylogger installed or a man-in-the-middle attack is being performed on that site than anyone "listening in" to your traffic specifically. Excepting the government, of course.
It is fine. I was just confirming if it would be a keylogger sort of thing where everything I use or type or send to the networks gets logged. If the privacy is similar to current broadband providers in India then it is fine.
For SMEs our day flat-rate might suit, since they're designed to be used during
business hours... kind of the opposite of the residential night flat-rate option.
I might opt for the normal plan right now. I have not yet started my company though have been planning to do so for several years. I came to my
HomeTown Guwahati and planned to start a website company in my own property but broadband is on and off and quality of internet is quite pathetic for me to take any such sort of risk. So, I would go for a normal 5mbps unlimited plan I suppose when I take it.
It's these areas that interest us quite a lot, but in many cases the challenge is getting (buying or building) good infrastructure there.
Yes the challenges are a bit more. But then there is no competition too and so it is also a bit rewarding. Guwahati is the economic and business center of the whole of North-East India but was held back for several decades due to terrorism etc. But now terrorism and other such problems have ended. Even the Govt. is also very stable and the ruling Congress party (same as in Maharastra and Indian central govt.) has been in power for more than 10 years and is already re-elected for the next 5 years too. The govt. and party in power would almost be stable and continue for several more decades as there is virtually no competition now with opposition parties getting decimated every election. So, administrative issues and political stability and such factors would not be an issue. It is also quite compact and so it might also be a plus in terms of building infrastructure. And the next few years is the right time as the development scene is rapidly evolving in the recent years after the end of terrorism and political problems etc. All the big players across various sectors are entering in recent years and taking the development advantage ranging from cloth brands, retail brands, restaurant lines (Pizza Hut, KFC, Dominos etc.) and various other corporates.
