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Trai - Dot - 3 minute local call charges - Internet - Bye, Bye To toll free acess
29th March 1999 P-S @giasmd01.vsnl.net.in
Dear Innmates Time & again there have been requests for toll free access to the Interet. This can only be a dream, as the latest local charge increases seem to have been envisaged & specifically targetted towards the just blossoming Internet dialup access market. In the otherwise depressed business environment where paisa pinching is on way everywhere, Dialup internet access is the only other business of DOT which has seen an unprecedented rise in earnings. So much that DOT & VSNL have teamed together in putting up exchanges at VSNL's (and most hopefully in the other ISP's premises). It does not take much intelligence to understand that DOT would not be putting up exchanges if it did not envisage instant returns. With one stroke, their revenues which were already in surplus, will now be almost doubled when the 5 minute duration local call becomes a 3 minute duration local call. If they even remotely had ideas of putting up tollfree access to the Internet for dialup in India, then consider the implications: * All the Internet kiosks in the cities would withdraw their ISDN lines and instead on the same Rs.5,000/- monthly payment put up individual lines to each terminal (most kiosks function with an average of five terminals) which would work out much cheaper and be more reliable than the ISDN as it is now offered. * Every individual who today dials up only from the office to login would start doing so from their residences also. Imagine a tollfree access where each phone line is engaged upto 5 to 6 hours in a day as father, mother, sons and daughters take their turn to log on. * Only the private ISP's will make money on their account renewals (vsnl also may not make money as once competition starts its accounts will come down) - DOT ends up with nothing as it provides tollfree access * Since toll free access is assured, sales of dedicated lines to the Internet and ISDN will be drastically cut as today most of the customers are from the Internet kiosks (atleast in Chennai) Do any of you seriously believe DOT will be a party to losing its most rich cash cow? Keep hoping the 3 minute call charges do not get revised to a 1 minute call charge next year. K N Srinivasan Udupa
31st March 1999
DEVENDRA SONI @ad1.vsnl.net.in
Mr K N Srinivasan Udupa is concerned about the free acess for and on behalf of all the internet users. He fear the charges to suit up from 3 minutes to 1 Minute. But My experience is different, already I am paying for 3 or four calls for actual one. Most of the times when I am connected to the internet, first two or three connections are just garbaged responses and hang-ups. Thus already two three or phone calls are charged to me. Further, the actual communication is so slow, although the connection is probably at 38000+ bps, the actual communication rate is av. 0.2K bps and some times even slower ... !!!!! Just imagine a 4 MB down load, which should not take more tahn 10 Minutes is actually taking 3 or 4 Hours.... A decent way to penalize the internet users. R we not paying very high.... I think it is more than a call per minute that I am already paying. So if you have an internet connection, you must keep your your pocket open for those inefficient machines, improper lines and what not !!! everything for somebody's negligence and non performance. Devendra Soni
