Quoting jtd:

On Sunday 09 July 2006 02:12 am, Dinesh Joshi wrote:

...

On Sunday 09 July 2006 01:37, Harsh Busa wrote:

...

I still donot see monopoloy anywhere . i donot understand this . they donot have a billing system in place ... they donot have field staff trained and etc etc hen why would you even go with them even if they gave cheaper than 999 a month ! ... such services wud be called beta and sud be marked free :D

How many players are offering services in the same / similar segment? Only one. Thats airtel. Well then it is called monopoly...

That is a virtual monopoly. There is no restriction on anybody setting up an Internet service. It is not commercially viable outside limited pockets to provide "propah" internet services. PC densities are abysymal and usage patterns even worse. Moreover it is going to stay that way until voice and voip is unshackled by babudom. At that point small players will start creating the infrastructure neccessary for a decent service.

This is an interesting point of view, but I am not sure of its validity. What is implied by 'propah'? The valuation of costs on the basis of downloads in entirely an artefact and bears little or no relation to the actual costs. How much are the other costs (I don't want to know someone's business plans, but merely an idea of the real cost of doing business as an ISP)?

I am not sure we have members here who are or represent ISPs, but at least DB used to work for one and can perhaps enlighten us. If commercial organisations do not see value in providing an ethical service, then we need to evolve other models. I find it hard to believe that voip/voice is the only missing element that can make or break a data networking service.

I hope I am not repeating something everyone knows (or that I may have posted already) but there will be a conference in Dharamsala in October this year (summit.airjaldi.com) focusing on wireless data naetworking for rural development. Issues of FLOSS will be prominent - I do hope some of you take an interest and sign up to conduct workshops/lectures on practical matters that may help nascent rural network operators understand better how to create viable networks. Or even urban service providers, but so far wifi seems to be the sole preserve of a few fantastically priced hotels and airports.

--- Vickram