CHENNAI: The latest foray of the Tamil Nadu government into Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has opened up new avenues in last mile net connectivity and deliverance of internet to homes across a common platform.
City Express takes a look at the alternatives the city has to offer in terms of fibre-optic connectivity, besides looking at a few issues that defer some users from going for smaller ISPs and people who vouch for such ISPs. The few known ISPs across the city, apart from mainstream players, include Act fibrenet, You broadband and Railwire. Smaller players often offer more speed and data download. For most people, knowledge of alternate ISPs comes through word of mouth, often via their peer circle.
“I find using internet from ACT quite speedy, and it delivers the advertised speeds. Besides, it provides a whole plethora of options for unlimited and big download plans, and costs around `1,200 for a 100 GB-40 Mbps plan as against `2,000 for a 2Mbps connection per month from one of the mainstream internet providers,” says Mihir K, a resident of Anna Nagar.
“I download a lot of movies and music, and the alternate ISPs have more bandwidth on offer throughout the day. When I also found them to be cost effective, I decided to switch,” says Nithya M, a resident of Adyar.
But not everyone’s a fan of alternate service providers. “I tried out Trikona net when it was launched, but over time, the services offered deteriorated and repairs took a long time, which prompted me to switch to an Airtel connection instead,” says Manish Sharma, a resident of Kilpauk.
There are other such instances too, as people opt for the convenience of a wider network and service coverage. “I rarely opt for alternate ISPs as I’ve had some harrowing experiences with them regarding service and maintenance, which led me to opt for mainstream providers. Mainstream players have a wide and prompt service network, as well as billing facilities that are the same for my other devices.That’s why I didn’t opt for a city-based ISP,” says Karthik Kumar, a resident of Velachery. Alternate ISPs often find good audiences in people who want to be connected to the net, or want to sample every bit of net 2.0 - from downloads to video streaming without buffering and much more, all at a fraction of the cost of mainstream players.