Well, I moved to Sion about the same time last year, and I had a hell of a problem trying to get a broadband connection.
We finally got an internet connection. After weeks of frustration. Let me tell you how it happened:
Flashback: Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
I shopped for my future broadband connection the same way I would shop for car insurance: call up all the providers, get quotes for the different plans, and then pick the best one. The three main ISPs in the city are Reliance,
Tata and MTNL.
Reliance easily has the best plan, so they were the first ones I phoned. The CSR noted down my details and promised that someone from the sales department would be by within '72 hours'. I waited. Reliance, after all, was a brand name with a reputation to uphold. Four days later, no one had showed up. Bowing to the superior wisdom of the elders in the family, I called the help line and whined about the service. "We have forwarded the necessary information to the sales department and someone will be contacting you shortly. Have a nice day Madam", said the nice lady at the other end of the phone. "Well", I thought, "That's that! I've put them in their places. I'll hear back from Sales People soon". This time, however, I called three times a day, everyday to make sure that the 'necessary information' had indeed been forwarded to the sales department so that someone would be able to contact me, Madam, soon. A week after my initial application, I was fuming, with the proverbial smoke coming out of my ears. No more Ms. Nice Madam, it was time to sharpen the claws. This time, I wrangled the office phone numbers, fax numbers and an addled CSR even offered me the email id of the Sales People. When I asked to speak to a manager or supervisor, Addled CSR gratefully transferred me over. Rocky*, the supervisor or manager, tried his level best to calm me down. "Keep trying the numbers of the Sales People", he suggested helpfully. The first phone number greeted me with an engaged dial tone while the second just rang continuously until the line shut off. I tried again after a couple of minutes: same scenario. I cracked my knuckles, got some refreshments (homemade limbu juice and potato crisps) and commandeered a comfy chair for my stakeout. A good three and a half hours later, the chips bag was empty and the limbu juice could only sustain me for one more glassful. I called the helpline again, and asked to speak to Rocky immediately. "You called before today morning, didn't you?", he asked. This time around, I was insistent and demanded Sales People's cell phone number and wouldn't be fobbed off; but it seems that everybody in this city has a cell phone, except for the elusive Sales People. They were getting harder to track than the Missing Link.
The next day, after trying Sales People's phone numbers a couple of times, I applied for internet services with all the major broadband Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the city. Eventually, it was MTNL that got gave me the broadband I needed. Even though the Tata Sales People came home and took the application, they never really followed up on it. I got a call from them this June about the application I had made in Jan. Reliance doesn't provide broadband in the Sion area, but the people in the call centers don't know that. The most surprising thing is that MTNL, the state controlled service, did the job faster than both the private firms.
After a couple of months with MTNL, I switched to Sai Samrat. They operate out of a garage shed next to the Peninsular Hotel, and they have good rates. It is about Rs 750 for the Unlimited plan in the 128 kbps category, and they are prompt. They came to install the wiring the same evening that I called them, and when the service was disrupted during the monsoons, they fixed it up in a couple of days. I can't remember their phone number off the top of my head, but you can ask anyone at Sion circle for directions to their office.
Good Luck!
