Broadband or slowband?

When I was in Paris a few weeks back I was amazed at the fantastic speed of the Internet services there. Here in India, though speeds have improved since the so called broadband services were launched, it is no where near suited for viewing streaming video or downloading high bandwidth files. Watching a 5 minute clip on Youtube,for instance, could take as much as 20 minutes. While Indian telecom authorities are not keen on raising the minimum speeds required for broadband services from 256 kbps, the actual speeds that one gets is probably a few notches higher than the dial up. High bandwidth prices and an artificial choking of available capacities are making quality of Internet services in India among the worst in the world. According to data collected by Internettrafficreport.com, India had an overall index of 74 and a response time of 253 milliseconds.
Countries like the US have an index of 98 and a response time of just 13 milliseconds. Response time is the time taken for a packet of information to reach from one point to another. The higher the response time the slower will be the Internet connection.
Higher index, on the other hand, indicates faster and more reliable connection. Even developing countries like Mexico and Peru have a higher Internet index than that of India. Though the numbers put out by Internettrafficreport.com is dynamic and changes almost every hour depending on the connectivity of each country, similar index comparisons have been noted over the past few months.
Mr Rajesh Chharia, President, Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), says that though the Internet services being offered by Indian companies are among the best in the world, the efficiency is reduced because the bandwidth providers have an artificial cap on the total availability.
“Indian bandwidth providers have the infrastructure to offer capacity in terrabits but they are making available only a few gigabits. This has resulted in artificial change in the supply and demand equation.”
Mr Chharia also said that international bandwidth operators are also pricing capacity at much higher levels than global standards. “An E1 capacity in India is available for Rs 33,000 per month while the same is available for just Rs 17,000-20,000 per month in the US and the UK. This forces smaller ISPs, which cannot afford such higher price, to manage their services with less capacity even though they may need more bandwidth. The end result could be poor customer experience,” he said.
Market watchers pointed out that poor quality could be the reason for a sluggish growth in Internet and broadband services in the country.
However, bandwidth providers are refuting the ISPAI claims and said that there was more than enough capacity available and more is being added.
“Indian bandwidth operators are only adding capacities and building new cable systems to cater to the growing telecom market. It is a highly competitive market and the pricing is determined on free market forces. As broadband and Internet services grow in India, the prices will only come down,” said a Mumbai-based international bandwidth provider.