The Internet services is now out of the stranglehold of the VSNL to the National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development. A monopoly regime is seldom concerned about the clients — their needs and wants, and the state of their satisfaction. Such a regime is also prescriptive in approach — take it or leave it. The monopoly operator does not usually offer variety of products and services. The corollary for the customer is a high price tag and an inferior service. On the whole, monopoly regime does not promote growth.

It’s good now that the situation has changed. Time is too short to surmise whether it is for the better — hope it is or not. Another peculiar situation has cropped up — the price war. The Public Sector undertakings namely, VSNL, MTNL and the Private Internet Service Providers like Satyam, Dishnet Infoway have been slashing down their prices. It has been reduced to the level of Rs.5750 for 500 hours in Pune (Dishnet) Compare this with the new subscription charges announced by the VSNL Rs.8500 for 500 hrs. Besides, Dishnet also had an "Early bird" scheme of Rs.995 for 100 hrs plus free CD worth Rs.8000 and zero registration fees. Dishnet has recently launched its services in Chennai and offering internet connectivity at Rs.1.80 per hour. It is further reduced to Re.1.0 per hour for women and students and free for government school teachers. Whereas, the goodies offered by the VSNL are notional, apart from free kids internet software, homepage and start up kit.

Users anywhere in the world would always welcome price reduction. However, after a stage, it becomes counter productive. The service operators may not be able to generate enough resources to strengthen the infrastructure, or to prepare themselves in advance for a change in technology. ISPs should not go the way Email providers — came and disappeared.

Though, some people tend to compare the situation with the auto price wars, however it would not be logical to do so. The fixtures and frills in a car say, power steering, music system, central locking etc., are physically touchable! Conveniences like roomliness, leg space etc, and the qualitative items like shape and colour can also be compared between two cars. As defined by individual taste and norms, you must have noticed that fuel efficiency — a key parameter earlier, is not highlighted these days in the auto advertisements. On the other hand, whether a car can survive a ghastly accident or an accidental fire is projected. Perhaps, customers do not necessarily base their purchase judgement on rupee terms alone anymore.

Now compare this with the Internet services in the country. The evaluation process gets bogged down at the start line itself because of the "intangible characteristics of information use". If a piece of information is not available when needed, what is the opportunity loss? Perhaps, it is trivial at times and therefore ignored. What if it is colossal and the user would have spent all his resources to get it?

Much of the enabling infrastructure such as bandwidth, computer systems, routers, telephone lines to user ratio, etc. work in the background. Unless special efforts are made a user would not know what quality of a "session" is being offered — the line speed, logging time, response time, reliability, frequency of interruptions etc., to compare with another service.

Then how one does make a choice, invest, and seal the fate for one year? Price? Surely not! (If you are interested, see the note 'ISP: Cost or Quality' on p. 13)