Subject: India competition in Internet service provision.

India competition in Internet service provision.

This week, the Indian government released details of its policy for
opening India up to competition in Internet service provision. Up until
now, the government-owned ISP, VSNL, has had a total monopoly on Internet
access provision and while charging considerably high prices provided
notoriously slow connections. In addition one was required to buy up 500
hours of online time in advance. 

India's slow connection is largely attributed to the fact that VSNL sold
more Internet connections than its network system could handle, with the
result that constant traffic jams and huge delays in dial-ups became the
norm. Downloading and connection speeds in India are famously slow, there
are frequent breakdowns and few sessions last longer than 20 minutes. 

In Bangalore, the Indian equivalent of Silicon Valley, a user on an
average modem could expect to spend up to half an hour each morning trying
to connect and even after a substantial wait, connection was not
guaranteed. 

It's expected that the opening up of the ISP market in India will
facilitate a reformation of the Internet experience in India. With over
one hundred companies waiting in the sidelines for licenses to open up
services in India's myriad cities, it's also expected that the opening up
of ISPs in regional areas will facilitate the huge growth expected in the
online community. 

The Department of Telecommunications in India expect a substantial growth
in the online community from 80,000 at the moment to 1.5 million within
three years. The move to an unlimited number of ISPs is an initiative of
the DoT who on recognising the importance of the Internet for economic
development in India subsequently set about reversing "The Telegraph Act
of 1885". The latter decreed that the delivery of all national
communications would be under the control of the government only and over
a hundred years later sanctioned the monopoly of the ISP market by the
government owned VSNL. 

The policy document specifies that any number of ISPs will be invited to
compete in the Indian ISP market. There will be no specification of prices
rather market forces will dictate what subscribers pay for access. Those
companies who have expressed interest in the Indian market include AT&T,
Compuserve, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard India, GE Capital and Tata IBM
Ltd.. 

Regards,

Sorcha Ni hEilidhe

Courtesy NUA Ireland

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- India competition in Internet service provision.
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    until now, the government-owned ISP, VSNL, has had a total monopoly
    on Internet access provision and while charging considerably high
    prices provided notoriously slow connections.
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