It is useless if it is not unlimited. I mean, if we just check emails and browse a few websites, we would consume around 1gb per month. Nowhere in the world is there a limit. And they are talking about speeds like 1mbps - 8mbps. I am not even talking about countries like US or UK or other developed countries. Even small countries in the Baltics like estonia and lithuania have fast unlimited broadband @ low cost!

And here we are using 256 and 512 kbps and then there is a cap for transfer rate! Mother India!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, is the service back to normal. I think it has improved but i am still not getting full speed!

Chennai.

Well, comparing with other service providers, I feel BSNL is more staright forward than the rest, becos the speed they provide is relatively the best/stable compared to other. If you take the case of Satyam, very often the speed id less than 100 Kbps and the cost is relatively more...

Problem arises incase of technical isses which are beyond the control of BSNL. Take for instance , the under water cable which was cut belongs to VSNL which again might be controlled by another third party.. so the hurdles are high...

another view can also be that since BSNL dataone had just started to boom, might be any one of the rivals or competitors did this to cause a panic among the user, a move to tarnish the image.... could be... ..

any thoughts???

I think these [supplier] guys are still living in a world where 1Gb is a **lot** of data. And it is! Or was, until music and video downloads and 100Gb+ discs in personal machines became common-place.

How to educate them otherwise?

But, more on-topic, the service seems to remaining good today.

I am rather surprised at the ravings & rantings about Datacap. Service Providers all over the world seem to have Datacaps. Even in US, UK, Japan. Yes their bandwidth is higher, but definitely not without Datacaps. If anybody wants to use more, be prepared to pay folks. Donot expect Free Lunch. May be charges for additional usage are higher. Then fight for reducing the Tariff.

Hey mine is 512 Kbps.The service is back to normal in madurai and coimbatore and other areas of tamilnadu.I'm downloading Driver 3 demo at 60-80 KB/sec.I think BSNL has repaired the underwater cable or whatever,.. speed and stabilty is ok now.
What are the reports from other parts of india ?

VIZAG ISP OFFERS 1 MBPS + FREE PC
www.scatmag.com/convergencenews.htm

Interactive Infotainment Private Ltd, a Vizag-based company, has launched broadband services Visakhapatnam.

Mr K. Vijaya Kumar, the Managing Director, said "We hope to cover all the important places such as Vijayawada, Guntur, Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Warangal and Tirupati in a year or so". The company had invested Rs 6 crore here in laying the optical fibre cable, he added.

One of its packages offers customers a 1 MBps connection, at Rs 799 per month for 2 years to get a free iSurf PC. The PC is supported by a 3 year warranty.

A wide variety of time and data based packages are offered in the range of Rs 99 per month to Rs 599.

Surprisingly a DSL provider doesnt even have a website of its own... what could that mean.

Does it mean they are less tech savvy?

Cmreddy

Oh and hey, i forgot after all its our sweet BSNL.I was downloading like 20 minutes then it stopped working.Could get a ADSL link but it wont connect at all.

There may be datacaps all around the world but 1gb is ridiculous. Also, i've friends in canada, australia, England, USA, Norway, Denmark and even Estonia! Noone has ever told me about a datacap. And they would laugh if i say them the speed i get. But i AGREE that BSNL is the best of the lot. I've been using Sify for more than a year and it SUCKS! It has been trouble-free for the last 2 months i have been using BSNL. But mypoint is, it still isn't good enough.

Pay more? There is no end to paying more! Around 4 years back, i was paying Rs. 4 for an ourgoing call and Rs.3 for an incoming call for my mobile phone. In the last 1 year, i have been paying only Rs.1 for a call and the incoming clals are free. I gave this example because the telephone companies were only ripping us. Now they get profit with low call rates, imagine the profit they would have got when the call-rates were sky-high.

So, there is no need to pay more. Minimising the cost is the only way to make the internet viable across the country! Giving a service at an affordable rate is what we want in this country!

I am not downloading any music or videos for entertainment. I only view webcasts and stuff for educational purposes! But the ussage and the purpse of the usage may differ from person to person.

What i am saying is the present set-up is perfect. Rs. 500 /- per month for 256kbps unlimited datacap is just about perfect! I am asking for nothing more and nothing less!

Sorry about the typos in the above post, i was typing too fast. LOL.

500 Rs. and 256 Kbps and unlimited usage ?
Only in your Dreams.

I'm ready to pay 5000-8000 for a 1mbps unlimted connection.
ISPs listening ?

the averaga price is Rs1 per Kbps in the US (ie for 3mbps the charge is $60) ie about 3000 for an unlimited 3 mbps....


ONE SHOULD NOT FORGET THE BSNL HAS ALREADY INVESTED IN COPPER when installing nationwide phone network....

...the INVESTMENT for DSL is much cheaper as it is the INCUMBENT.

so the charges should be lower

Only in my dreams? Yeah, i want my dreams come true. You got any problems with that?

Not every indian is rich like you to pay Rs.5000 or more. I am speaking on behalf of the average indian.

The same poster as above. On further thinking...I would imagine that the following tariff would be ideal

Any amount <= Rs.1000/- for 256 kbps speed unlimited usage.
(or)
Rs. 500/- for 256 kbps and a daily datacap of 500mb.

If BSNL DOES NOT provide unlimited usage beyond June 30th at the same existing rate or at a slightly higher rate, i SUSPECT that the users may go away to ISPs that provide unlimited usage even at lower speeds. I certainly would. We certainly don't need a fast connection if all we can do is to check email and chat and consume just 1gb per month.

yeah right if only bsnl lets other isp use last mile access which isn't likely.