From the media

Ever been to one of those 'bhojanalays' where you get to eat all you can for a flat price? If you're on the Net for 4-6 hours daily, wouldn't it be great to have a similar concept in Net access too--surf all you can for a flat fee? Fact is, even if you're not a heavy Net user, you can benefit from such an offer.

In the US, unlimited Net access is commonplace and typically costs around $20-22 a month. Converted into rupees, that would be about Rs 850. So, you're asking, why don't we have unlimited Net access in these parts? Soon you will. But at about three to four times the price in the US--Nanda Netcom, a local ISP is planning to offer unlimited Net access for Rs 3,000 a month or Rs 30,000 a year. In other cities too, small ISPs are starting off with surf-all-you-can accounts.

But why don't the big boys offer unlimited access? After all, with their volumes and scale of operations, providing unlimited access should be easy, right? Wrong. Volumes and large operations are exactly what's stopping the large ISPs from offering surf-all-you-can packages.

According to a source in VSNL, since bandwidth in India is extremely expensive as compared to the US, and worse, the infrastructure to service that bandwidth is also not available on demand, surf-all-you-can is a difficult proposition for them. He pointed out that even if VSNL were to offer unlimited access packages, they wouldn't be able to meet demand. Users would purchase one account and many people would use it simultaneously, thus blocking access lines.

Since obtaining new lines from MTNL is a time-consuming exercise, the concept just won't work, ISPs feel. Suchit Nanda of Nanda Netcom says MTNL has said it can only provide a maximum of 180 lines (2 PRI and 3 E1/R2) per telephone exchange. With 180 lines catering to a maximum of 1,800 users (1:10 line to user ratio), the demand surge just can't be met by available infrastructure.

Muneesh Pabbi of Bharti-BT Internet, which runs Mantra Online, too feels this is the reason why unlimited access accounts have still not made an entry in India. He reiterates that if traffic goes up suddenly, access lines are not easily available from MTNL/DoT.

Another Internet expert felt that while access by multiple users on one account could be restricted, the bandwidth costs itself would put paid to any unlimited access plan. None of the ISPs we spoke to--VSNL, MTNL, Mantra Online and Satyam Online--had any plans for unlimited Net access in the near future.

But, on the brighter side for users, with tough competition coming in, the new kids on the block--Nanda Netcom being one--will offer unlimited Net access. And once the big boys start hurting, even they might jump onto the bandwagon. Once there's competition, prices will come down. Besides, as ISPs go in for larger chunks of bandwidth, bandwidth prices will come down. However, this will take at least a year or so to happen, and that too only if the smaller ISPs manage to make money on unlimited access without burning their fingers. Till then, we'll have to rest content with eat-all-you-can.