Airtel Vs. Bsnl/mtnl

Hello people, I just wanted to know what you guys feel about the recent announcement of the State Owned Telecom Giants BSNL/MTNL of an increase in bandwidth from 256Kbps to 2Mbps. Though their usage is pretty tricky and billing systems are capricious, some might have an idea to experience the thrill of 2Mbps speed! If this trend continues then Airtel is sure to lose their (wht ppl call here call...) Not so big Customer base. Will Airtel lose to BSNL/MTNL? I guess its going to be the Survival of the Fittest! Some lame users like me who don't even know the basics of broadband find the word 2Mbps enticing... Getting customers like me switch to BSNL will surely affect Airtel... Coz not all are like our Mods or Senior Broadband users...! LOLZ...! 😛We all know about the QOS (Quality Of Service) that Airtel has been providing. AFAIK (As Far As I Know) the worst downtime I had in my 256 Kbps Unlimited Plan was 1 day and that too was because of thunder striking the cable near my house and continous showers that it took the guys so long.. Speeds... I need to brag about this.. with the 512Kbps line now I get at the max 62KB/s. 🙁 So AFA Quality is concerned Airtel is the best (compared to BSNL). Moreover we feel that we're the boss and have a comanding tone over the CC person with Airtel. They oblige to our requests... Whereas for BSNL they make us oblige to their needs... We can never get Customer Support from them!! (Haven't tried Broadband from BSNL but their Telephone Dept. is worst in Customer Care!)So who is it going to be? Will Airtel retain its customers? Not too many contenders.... Very limited Battle ground... Artillery also limited... so who is going to win this Battle??? :blink:

LOL, PS3 or Wii or XBOX360 and i want to buy all 3 (have 2 need that freakin PS3). Funny year 2006 n 2007, 3 to choose from. As i have stated in my previous post. Ill hang on to Airtel till Feb. By that time, we will hopefully get to see BSNL's True colors. If it turns out then OK, then ill wait yet again till March, when most of the TATA/Airtel/Reliance Gang would jump to BSNL. Come April, check various boards, if Everything seems ok, and no sign of upgrade from Airtel, then its Bye Bye Airtel, and start begging BSNL (SIGH). I think BSNL will likely have BW issues when the masses jump their base thats the whole thing with the 256 TO 2mbps, coz they dont want to promise what they cant keep up, playin on the safe side. So once we all jump into BSNL Speeds Drop like my b@lls and we would/might get stuck with 256 kbps. MTNL, i checked their traiff they dont say anything about Night Unlimited. I see that one Plan NU, but the speed is at 256, it doesnt even have a "TO".AT AT AT AT (AirTel)P.S: Maybe you should set a poll up. (IF NO Upgrade plans, will you still stay with your current provider)Regards,NeoeN

One good think about BSNL/MTNL is the pricing pressure then have put on other ISPs.Till a couple of years back, 256 kbps meant thousands of rupees every month.

Hmm... I guess by Mid Feb or maybe by Jan 26 (Republic Day) I guess Airtel might roll out some Exciting plans. But I read somewhere that TRAI has urged Private ISP's to provide 2Mpbs speeds @ the existing Price! If that's true then I don't mind clinging on to Airtel even if Airtel gives 256Kbps TO 2Mbps... Coz Airtel is reliable and I'm sure we could rope in some 512Kbps consistently... and off-peak hours will be able to surf @ 1 to 1.5Mbps.... If we are damn lucky then we'll rush with 2Mbps...! 😛

I remember once when I got speeds of 9.3Mbps in my 256Kbps line! I guess I've posted that Screenshot here @ IBF too... 🙄




QUOTE(netfreak @ Jan 6 2007, 02:33 AM) [snapback]73498[/snapback]
One good think about BSNL/MTNL is the pricing pressure then have put on other ISPs.

Till a couple of years back, 256 kbps meant thousands of rupees every month.[/b]

Agree to what you said Netfreak!

Just a couple of years ago Broadband Internet was a term used only in Big Corporates and Businesses.
Thanks to BSNL which has made Broadband available to residential users too...

About a year back i thought Airtel would lead introduction of new broadband schemes/tariffs in India and others like BSNL would follow, but of course i was wrong. The tariffs in India offered across al ISPs are what BSNL proposed. Its dissapointing to see that none of the private ISPs are pushing the broadband market in India. I would stick on to Airtel till April - but thats only because my 1 yr with them would finish at that time and I can claim my deposit money. I am not very excited about this 2 mbps thing, coz i think like BSNL those speeds will come with capped downloads which is of no use to me. I am not even hopeful of a 512 kbps unlimited, since Airtel has no reason to offer it. The only thing i am looking forward to is IPTV. By April if IPTV is no where in sight then i will move to BSNL

airtel surprises me by being quiet. they were the first major company to launch unlimited connections with speeds of 256kbps. bsnl mtnl took the lead with 2 mbps cheap connections... it would be interesting to see what this quietness would bring from airtel. they have to remain competitive. or else they might fail to retail their customer base in the longer run... on the other hand, i am not really interested to moving to bsnl for the time being considerings they usually don't even have enough modems in stock to supply to new customers.

I think all the isps need to come out with information on the available bandwidth to them respectively. Questions need to be asked that why the data caps are not being increased so to make it more appealing to the new users. Lets be realistic here people coz going by the current download limits it's easy to see that implementing unlimited plans for atleast 512 kbps is a far way off. Another important factor is the pricing issue as not many users would be willing to shell out more than 700 Rs for an unlimited high speed plan. BSNL/MTNL need to find a common ground when it comes to download limits. Imo increasing the download limits to say at least 3 GB for a starter plan would go a long way in increasing the broadband penetration in the country.

I think both Airtel and MTNL should be reliable. With MTNL, problems are:1. No unlimited connection (in Mumbai)2. Pathetic CC3. Billing is not truasted by everyoneWith Airtel, problems are:1. Not available in most on Bombay2. Based on responses in this forum, speed is not that good

73531[/snapback]I think all the isps need to come out with information on the available bandwidth to them respectively.[/b]

I don't think this would work out.. After all what are we going to do knowing about how much bandwidth resource they have n all.... What we need to know is why they are not providing true broadband to Indian users....

QUOTE(maahkaal @ Jan 6 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]73531[/snapback]
Questions need to be asked that why the data caps are not being increased so to make it more appealing to the new users.[/b]
Good Question! But I dunno which Dumb A**]Lets be realistic here people coz going by the current download limits it's easy to see that implementing unlimited plans for atleast 512 kbps is a far way off.[/b]
I cudn't agree with that fact buddy.. coz I think its feasible for ISP's to provide that speed but speaking about consistency I'm not sure.... :blink:
Moreover, I'm looking forward to Airtel introducing the 512kbps Unlimited on the Home 999 Plus plan..... 😉

QUOTE(maahkaal @ Jan 6 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]73531[/snapback]
Another important factor is the pricing issue as not many users would be willing to shell out more than 700 Rs for an unlimited high speed plan.[/b]

Bring in some consistent Broadband and the users are willing to pay upto Rs.1500 per month.

QUOTE(maahkaal @ Jan 6 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]73531[/snapback]
BSNL/MTNL need to find a common ground when it comes to download limits. Imo increasing the download limits to say at least 3 GB for a starter plan would go a long way in increasing the broadband penetration in the country.[/b]

Well thats a good suggestion. What I personally feel is that TRAI should not keep scratching the asses of private ISP's with stringent rules. Well if they want to stop FDI (Foerign Direct Investment) they would have to open the gateway for Indian ISP's. TRAI is being such a pain in the neck for private ISP's. Its rules are inhibitng the growth of DTH, IPTV, Broadband and WiMax technologies in India.

Moreover, BSNL/MTNL or TRAI should conduct a survey to see customer satisfaction. Why even Airtel doesn't do that?? Maybe I think its coz they'll get 99.99% Negative Feedback and remaining 0.01% positive feedback and that too from the chairpersons/minister.

When the world was speaking Broadband we were searching to find whether there wuz a word like that in the dictionary... When the world was surfing in Mbps we were proud to have Internet @ homes... When the world was downloading in hundreds of Mbps we were proud to have Broadband in our country, Now when the world id ready to provide 1Gbps to residential users, we awe at 2Mbps Speeds.... This is the improvement by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India. If not Mr.Maran I think this development would also not have taken place... Anyhow Mr.Maran there is always room for improvement...

will lose? You should use the correct tense... Airtel, and has already LOST to MTNL/BSNL 🙂

😀 Good one Buddy...

I for one won't be moving to any other service provider unless they launch anything better than Airtel's 256kbps unlimited plan. If there was a 512kbps unlimited for around the same price then I would take it.. I only take unlimited plans.

Well everyone is hoping for that 512kbps Unlimited Plans from Airtel. If not atleast I am waiting for Airtel to launch the 512kbps Unlimited plan for the existing 999 Scheme. The best thing Airtel could do is 2X the current speed its offering to its users.. or like some ambitious ppl who r expecting way too ambitious speeds of 4X like jus wht BSNL did... Anyhow anything more than 512kbps Unlimited is a Mega Jackpot, Bumper Prize, Broadband Bonanza!! Watever....

I'm going to have to wait until March end, to see Airtels reply if any to BSNL.

BSNL offers night unlimited at 2mbps, that's something better than nothing. If Airtel still wants to be sitting ducks without upgrading their unlmited plans - I'm switching.
They have good 3 months to hold all the meets, upgrade their systems and blah blah.

Well everyone is hoping for that 512kbps Unlimited Plans from Airtel.[/b]

That's all we are asking for. Really isn't hard, 256 has been here since almost 2 years now.

Yeah. Lets all wait till the end of the buisness year and then see.