31 Mar
2009
31 Mar
'09
9:42 a.m.
Dinesh A. Joshi wrote:
scrapo wrote:
If you cant exceed, then how is it a cap ? And what is the purpose of a
cap ? To prevent accounting error ?
Actually, I find it funny that you guys are ok
with a "fair use cap"
which in effect makes it a 10gb data limit connection while being called
an unlimited connection. What it amounts to is false advertising.
MTNL is much better, it does not call it an unlimited plan but says its
a limited data plan.
I'm absolutely not rooting here for the thugs of the telecom industry.
All I'm saying is if you give me a "limit" which exceeds my download
capability, then in effect I have an "unlimited" connection - atleast I
wont feel any difference. For example, if I have a 1Mbps connection,
theoretically I can download ~327GB / month. If an ISP offers me the
same connection with a, say, 500GB cap thats as good as being unlimited
because I *cant* exceed the cap.
Secondly, as I mentioned, in the US or western
countries the word "cap"
is used very liberally. It is *rarely* enforced.
Nope. You are wrong. The american
internet users are very frustrated
with caps and specially since they are not communicated or even
documented. Mostly done at their own whims and fancy. Also in each area
in US, there is only 1 ISP so people do not have a choice which they at
least have in India (in quiet a few places). While we may not have good
competition, they have none. If you are not happy, you can not do
anything about it. if you complain loudly, you are going to be the only
one on the block without a connection.
I have friends and clients in USA who confirm this and there is plenty
of articles on this online if you wish to check.
There are more horror stories there than here.
Ofcourse, their level of expectation is much different. But that is like
saying that American as 2 cars per person, we have 1 for 10 people
...... not a fair compare.
Unlike Indian ISPs
which will shut you off if you exceed the limit. What MTNL and other
ISPs have done is, they've conned the Indian consumer. 200MB / month is
a freakin' joke.
yes, they are offering a plan for Rs. 200 (US$ 4 per month) which is a
rate you will not find in USA. This is a plan that is meant for light
home users, people who are only going to use it to check their emails
once a day. the popularity of the scheme is because in India, people
want small slice service. Its a very good move. And very practical. If
you want more usage, take a better plan. Whats stopping you ?
In office we are on an MTNL plan that gives us close to guaranteed 2
mbps speed which we need for our ERP connectivity and we are paying for
that good quality bandwidth. There is a 45gb cap, but i know we are not
going to use more than 15gb in a month except when a new Fedora version
is put up. We are business users, and we do not go and download movies
so we dont need 500gb downloads.
But what have you lawyers done about it?
My
lawyer have not been put to that task. I vote with my wallet. I chose
a service I want, and pay for it. If i am not happy with it, I switch to
what options I have. The market will get them in line soon enough.
Provided ofcouse the market actually wants such a thing. If you are the
only person wanting 500gb transfer and wanting to pay Rs. 1000 per month
for it, the vendors are not going to bother.
The TRAI rarely has, if any,
support from the white collared public. All that "geeks" of our nation
can do is sit at their 1337 machines and sign online petitions.
So what stops you
from going and supporting TRAI by filing a complaint
or at least by responding to their request for public comment on
documents, etc which they keep putting up.
They
cant go into Airtel's office smash some heads and show them that we mean
business. We're not to be taken for a ride.
Really ? Why not instead switch to
someone who is going to give you
better facility ?
And be prepared to pay for what you are going to use.
I'm not an extremists but
the horror stories I've come to know over the years, I for one believe
that strong action is essential.
Also, I can understand that India has limited interconnect with the rest
of the world. Indian ISPs are charged a lot but isn't it true that
Indian ISPs ( TATA and Reliance ) now own some of the largest backbones
out there? Last time I checked Reliance had some 10,000 terabits of
unlit fiberoptic capacity ( Was it the Flag telecom deal? Dont remember
exactly ).
Reliance owns flag, which has 10K TB of bandwidth. True, but how much of
it terminates in India ?
Airtel has put its own fiber on east coast to connect to the main pipes
through singapore.
Tata is a partner of one of the large fiber groups due to ownership of
vsnl. they hold the rights to build landing stations and will be sole
channel for selling that bandwidth in India for 10 years (must be coming
to an end soon, this is old story).
Has anybody considered going and trashing some offices
and punch the A**
H***s whole make plans to milk the Indian consumer? Hmm...
Saswata, how many cases have you registered against any ISP for their
unfair data limits? poor customer service? Horrible uptime?
Actually, I am pretty satisfied with my data limits and get pretty good
uptimes.
When I was not happy, eg, with hathway and with my cable guys at home, i
switched.
And as i said before, i am a business user. I am willing to pay for good
quality and for my usage. Its unfair data limit to you, its fair to me.
I had the option of other plans if i wanted to.
Oh and the best line of them all comes from an MTNL
customer care rep:
Me: So do you have any "unlimited" plans?
Rep: Yes, all our plans are unlimited.
Me: ( rolls eyes ) No. All your plans are limited upto a certain amount
of data transfer like 1GB, 200MB etc...
Rep: Yeah, so?
Me: ( Gets frustrated ) They're not *unlimited*. I want an *unlimited* plan.
Rep: Umm...your plan is already unlimited.
Me: Come on lady!! The plan restricts me to a set data transfer amount!
Rep: No! You can download as much as you want to. You just have to pay
for the extra transfer!
Me: x_x
( This was at a time when MTNL had introduced unlimited plans in Delhi
and not in Mumbai ).
I corrected my terminology - I call them Flat rate plans :P
MTNL site is very clear that they are talking unlimited in terms of
connectivity time. If you remember, earlier they used to charge for time
you are connected. But they have plans like NU, which so many people
here use. If you call and ask the call center for a plan that does not
exist and which their website makes clear does not exist, then what do
you expect the lady to do ? Create one for you ?
- Dinesh