Internet, Broadband services, ISD 2 become cheaper

[vb86 0]

NEW DELHI, MARCH 11: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday slashed international bandwidth prices by 35-70%, a move expected to lower tariffs for international long distance (ILD) calls, Internet access and broadband services. Besides retail customers, IT and IT-enabled services companies would benefit significantly from the cut.

Operators would be free to offer tariffs that are lower than the ceiling tariff fixed by the regulator. “The ILD tariffs will surely drop since international bandwidth is an input for ILD, internet and broadband services. It is, however, too early to comment on the magnitude of likely price cuts. The market will decide the extent of ILD rate cuts,” a senior Trai official said.

A BSNL official, however, said, “The cut in bandwidth prices will not affect ILD rates. Only the ISPs will be able to offer some cost benefits to their users.”

Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said, “We have been pushing for this for a while. This is a good step for the Indian IT and ITES industry.” Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) president Amitabh Singhal, in fact, the industry was expecting steeper cuts.

“Though bandwidth prices have improved, they are still high compared to peer markets. Prices are still 2-5 times more in India compared to these markets. In 2005, with additional capacity coming in coupled with the aggression of the carriers, we expect a 30-40% price drop,” Gartner India principal analyst (telecom) Kobita Desai said.u

International bandwidth is the medium of carriage of data and voice services across countries in the world. The main users of international bandwidth in India are ISPs, IT and IT-enabled service enterprises like business process outsourcing (BPO) units and ILD operators.

The ceiling tariff for international private leased circuit (IPLC) in respect of speed of 2 mbps (mega bits per second), 45 mbps and 155 mbps have now been fixed at Rs 13 lakh, Rs 1.04 crore and Rs 2.99 crore a year, respectively.

These fixed ceiling tariffs translate into a reduction of 35%, 71% and 70% in tariffs from the earlier prices.

[rEdshiFt 1]

check out this link to ISPAI Internet Service Providers Assosiation of India...some nice info

this ones strange - in the ISPAI members page, Reliance internet is registered to ambani under the Brand Name of "Only Smart" !! :'( :'(

how come i've never heard of this Only Smart !?!

its even got a homepage Onlysmart.com which informs us that it provides quality interner services in Calcutta, Guwhati and Indore. anyone here using it? its promising 3 months unlimited for 1000rs !! no mention of speed

try explorin the site - coudnt find any obvoius links to reliance....whats goin on?

[rEdshiFt 1]

:'( :'(

[Chirag 5]

It might be the GSM arm of Reliance!

[rakesh5295 0]

How much rate reduction should we expect from Reliance. will our rates fall by say atleast 25% or not even that much will be passed to customers. well 1st april is quite near and me excited if there is really a 70% reduction in prices. well guys what u say!!

[imvikky 0]

Hey does that mean Reliance will give cheaper Rconnect rates or all broadbands rates'll be slashed... coz z a broadband is anytime better than this... and anyways SMART was the name of reliance GSM service in Bihar atleast as of I remember

[Arun 795]

Broadband prices to fall further

March 14, 2005 10:06 IST

Broadband prices have fallen from Rs 1,800 in January 2004 to Rs 500 today, expect them to fall faster now.

The average monthly tariff for a broadband (256 kbps or above) connection, which has witnessed a 72 per cent fall over the last 14 months to touch Rs 500 in February 2005, is likely to decline even further following the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's move to slash international bandwidth rates.

Trai announced on Friday international bandwidth rates would fall by up to 70 per cent from April 1.

With the regulator all set to announce a revised leased circuit tariff structure for domestic bandwidth within a week, industrial analysts share the view that the combination of international and domestic broadband tariff reduction would eventually see the average monthly tariff fall to Rs 350.

All you want to know about broadband

According to data compiled by the regulator, the average broadband tariff was as high as Rs 1,800 in January 2004. From Rs 1,000 in September 2004, the average tariffs witnessed a 100 per cent fall over the last five months.

The entry of state-owned players Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd into the broadband market in January and the ongoing price war has only accelerated the fall.

In addition to slashing tariffs for home users by over 40 per cent to match those offered by the two PSUs, private players like Bharti, Sify and Hathway are combining a slew of freebies to lure new customers and retain existing ones.

While Trai's figures show a 65 per cent growth in the number of broadband users from June to December 2004, with the country having 650,000 broadband users, industry analysts estimate over 200,000 new users have been added in the last two months.

In a statement, Trai said, "The growth in demand induced by the lower prices mandated by the Authority will itself act as a demand stimulant, leading to higher utilisation of capacities, that would have secondary effects in pushing down the price levels."

BSNL executives said the company had installed over 15,000 connections based on the ADSL 2 Plus platform since the launch of its "DataOne" services on January 14. The company has set a target of 1 million broadband subscribers by December 2005.

"Most of these connections are in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. We have a waiting list of over 160,000. Currently, our services are available only in 14 cities, against our target of 200. We are, however, confident of meeting the one million target by the year-end," said a senior BSNL executive.

According to MTNL Chairman and Managing Director RSP Sinha, the company had provided 3,500 connections so far, and had a waiting list of over 20,000 (Delhi and Mumbai together).

"We are still in the process of rolling out our services. Our subscriber base will cross the stipulated target of 500,000 by December-end," he said.

Signal's loud and clear

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUBSCRIBERS: The country has around 650,000 broadband users; as many as 200,000 were added in the last two months

COSTS: Analysts say the average monthly tariff will soon plunge to Rs 350

BENEFITS: Broadband enables faster downloads; you do not

[rakesh5295 0]

But still not isp has said they will lower the tarrifs. if the tariff get lower it will be for all incuding rrim as even rim wants to be in the race and also what reduction is being done by govt will also benefit rim. From the above post what i can think is definately rates will lower but when and by how much is the iussue. ? well guys i m in dapo and planing to go for Joy149+freedom plan as voice rental is waived and i can save much in this plan. what u'll say for that?

[city02 63]

According to data compiled by the regulator, the average broadband tariff was as high as Rs 1,800 in January 2004. From Rs 1,000 in September 2004, the average tariffs witnessed a 100 per cent fall over the last five months.

A 100% fall would be zero cost!

then it would be free ....

[satyamsharma 0]

TRAI recently made some announcement slashing international traffic tarriffs ... newspaper articles suggested that meant even Internet / Broadband rates charged by various providers could go down by as much as 70% ... does anybody know if R-Connect rates too could go down?

[merging post]

Edited March 16, 2005 by Arun

[linuxguy 0]

forget r-connect charges guys. r-connect is NOTHING as compared to 256Kbps/512Kbps connections. I am dissapointed that TRAI has said NOTHING about the VOLUME OF DATA TRANSFER. They should've plugged that loop hole We really need fast unlimited download, always on connections.

[biosbhai 0]

yeah! now we will get 1 gbps connections with 1 MB download limit!

[rEdshiFt 1]

[alam 0]

I read in the newspaper a few days ago that the rates for internet (maybe licensing, or maybe operating fees) has been reduced by 70% !!!

Anybody got the inside scoop on how RConnect users stand to benefit. The new rates come into effect from April 1.

[merging post]

Edited March 16, 2005 by Arun

[linuxguy 0]

no biosbhai, we will have 1GBps bandwidth with 1Bit limit ( monthly )

[biosbhai 0]

heh heh

[Arun 795]

Press Trust of India - March 29, 2005

In a relief to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, the TRAI today deferred by a month the implementation of reduction in international bandwidth prices, which was scheduled to come into effect from April 1.

VSNL had challenged the TRAI's order in Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) regulating international bandwidth prices objecting to TRAI's decision to regulate and reduce prices by upto 70 per cent.

No final order has been passed as TDSAT did not have time to hear the case and dispose the matter. Since the April 1 deadline was near, TRAI offered to defer the implementation of its March 11 order to May 1, TRAI counsel P V Kapur said in the TDSAT.

The matter would come up for hearing on April 13.

[rakesh5295 0]

From this it seems if vsnl comes up with some logical reasoning then may be the rates will not be slashed even from 1st May. I dont know why in the background of licesne etc govt, keeps such charges too high.

[Chirag 5]

Broadband rates may fall this week

Source: Business Standard.

MSN India.com

Leased line rates in the country may be cut later this week, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman Pradip Baijal said during a panel discussion on "Enabling a regulatory framework for the digital age" at FICCI-FRAMES today.

Baijal also emphasised the need for lower broadband rates. According to him, while developed countries like South Korea had broadband rates as low as $1 (Rs 43.79) a month, India currently pays $4 per subscriber on a monthly basis for a 100 kbps broadband connection.

He said Trai was in consultations with the government to lower the rates to $1 a month. He highlighted the role of private players in the development of telecom infrastructure and said they had been responsible for the increase in tele density to 2.11 per cent in 2004 alone.

[deepu 0]

$1 a month!!!!

I have started dreaming!!!

[Ganesh 0]

But indian Broadband companies are greedy

[rakesh5295 0]

When will this happen, what will happen to vsnl case.??

[city02 63]

i agree its unrealistic but even Rs. 100-200/month would be excellent.

in fact the rate could be fixed with an SLA (service level agreement) to the min download speed:

64 kbps for Rs. 64/month

128 kb/s @ 128/month

256 kb @ 256/mth

etc

this would be easy to remember & understand

BTW, i've notice sustained speeds of over 500-600 kb/s on my netway broadband while downloading about 9-10 Mb files for the last 1-2 weeks...

but i know it can't last!

[linuxguy 0]

city02, in countries like Sweden 10Mbps and 100Mbps connections for individuals are common place. So according to your cost structure, a 100Mbps connection would cost Rs.100,000/- a month which is unacceptable. The cost structure should be 1/100th the bandwidth :'( Meaning a 64Kbps connection will cost Rs.0.64/- a month.

[rakesh5295 0]

Well all that is god to hear but what will be the ground relaity, when will the charges fall, does anybody have any updates of what happened tot he vsnl case and whats going on in trai or isp about reducing rates. I think even wihout the cut of trai still relaince must drop rates that allready its giving in 750 128k unlimited connection then why not to RIM customers.