Which broadband gives reliable and efficient service.

Rest of TN has better broadband quality than Chennai

CHENNAI: Broadband quality of service offered by fixed wireline operators in non-metro areas of TamilNadu is three times better than in the metro circles of Chennai and Bangalore, a study conducted by IIT-Madras has shown. "This means that the existing infrastructure in the rest of TN (RoTN) circle can accommodate three times the number of broadbandconnections that they presently serve," said Prof Timothy A Gonsalves, IIT-M. 

TeNeT - Telecommunications and computer Netwroks group of IIT-M, has conducted tests on broadband quality of service in Chennai and RoTN circles as part of a project by Asian telecom policy thinktank LIRNEasia. The study which focuses mainly on metros, spilled over to non-metro areas in Tamil Nadu, with the surprising result that broadband speeds in RoTN are nearly three times the advertised speeds. 

"In India telecom regulation specifies that only minimum speeds can be advertised, as opposed to neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka where it is possible for internet service providers (ISPs) to advertise maximum speeds," Prof Gonsalves said. Therefore a comparitive graph shows that India has the least deviation of delivered speeds from promised speeds among south Asian countries. "This also means that speeds in Chennai or Bangalore are equal to the advertised speeds, which suffices for common internet usage." 

However, RoTN delivers three times the advertised speeds for national as well as global servers, that is for websites hosted in India as well as internationally. "The tests have been carried out at various timings during the day, on different days of the week, thereby eliminating any speed discrepancies based on time," Prof Gonsalves said. "This just indicates that there is upto three times extra capacity in the installed broadband infrastructure in RoTN." 

In other words, the existing infrastructure can accommodate thrice as many current subscribers in the circle, contrary to popular perception that poor broadband penetration in non-metros is owing to lack of economic viability for building infrastructure. A spokesperson from BSNL, the major ISP in Chennai and TN, said, "We have the capacity to double our broadband subscriber base in TN now. But, the difficulty in connecting them lies in their location." 

The company uses connectors which house 16, 32, 64, 128 or 512 ports depending on the number of subscribers in the area. "While we may have excess capacity left in a 32 or a 128 port connector, it may not be possible to accommodate a new subscriber in it because of the long distance between his location and that of the connector. So, we end up installing a new connector." 

Spokesperson for Airtel, which has 50,000 subscribers in RoTN and 1.5 lakh in Chennai, said, "The reason for higher speeds in RoTn is definitely under utilization of capacity." 
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(All above speeds are for broadband connections advertised for speeds of 256 kbps)

Tata Teleservices partners with Yahoo for online user interface

New Delhi, May 26, 2009: India’s leading telecom company Tata Teleservices has entered into partnership with Yahoo for online user interface for more than thirty millions of its customers.

The alliance with Yahoo! Company’s Indian arm would help it serve its customers in more user-friendly manner. It will also give a global touch to Tata Indicom’s local services.

Tata Teleservices is part of the INR 2,51,543 Crore (US$ 62.5 billion) Tata Group, that has over 87 companies, over 330,000 employees and more than 2.8 million shareholders. With a committed investment of INR 36,000 Crore (USD $7.5 billion) in Telecom (FY 2006), the Group has a presence across the telecom value chain.

Tata Teleservices spearheads the Group’s presence in the telecom sector. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices was the first to launch CDMA mobile services in India with the Andhra Pradesh circle.

Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, Tata Teleservices has established 3G ready telecom infrastructure. It partnered with Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the deployment of its telecom network.

Lloyd Mathias, a senior Tata Teleservices official says, “This alliance will allow Yahoo! to reach a wider audience in the internet and digital spaces, and gain access to a captive user base to create not only a deeper connection with users, but also deliver a seamless user experience across platforms”.