The Promise Of 2mbps

Asianet Dataline, a division of Asianet Satellite Communicaions Ltd is planning to increase bandwidth to 2mbps, reports the Hindu Business Line.
The Financial Times, however, reports that from Jan 1st 2007, BSNL has increased the broadband speed to 2mbps, as mandated, but will not be able to add on any new subscribers until March 2007. I subscribe to MTNL, and there’s been no change in speed; if anything, I’ve learnt that some of the technical support people at MTNL do know the difference between ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’.
Anyway, the devil is in the details: for most of these ISPs, there’s an easy way out – BSNL offers speeds “up to 2mbps”, and not a consistent speed. And not all plans are being upgraded. If the government is really serious about making 2007 the ‘Year of Broadband’, they need to unbundle the last mile and let competition prevail. Big promises with little asterisks and ‘conditions apply’ mean nothing.
Update: Citigroup Venture Capital International owned ISP YOU Telecom has also announced a 2mbps plan, reports CIOL. More to follow soon? Again, these plans are with data caps. So, here’s another thought – ISP’s are likely to benefit from the increase in speed – it will spur usage and people are more likely to exceed their data caps and will have to pay the excess charges.
Related:
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