[Reader-list] ISPs: that bad?

[Arun Mehta]

Two lakh surrendered their connections since Jan? Talk about fiddling while 
Rome was burning...

There are clear measures that the ISPs can take  to cut costs, and increase 
sales:
1. Offer Net access through WiFi, so that they have an attractive, 
affordable solution for large clients.
2. Encourage interlinking of ISPs in every town where there is more than 
one. Right now, the routing of packets from Indian senders to Indian 
receivers in absurd -- typically, via the US. There is talk of setting up 
large regional bandwidth exchanges. I have nothing against those, but much 
easier and quicker to start is the decentralized interconnection of ISPs.
3. Stop this mutual blockage of Net telephony, look to grow the market for 
everyone. If Net usage increases, ISPs will be the ones to immediately benefit.
4. Cut down spam. Make sure nobody sends spam from Indian networks, and do 
the best you can for filtering the incoming. There should be an address to 
send spam to, where someone quickly looks at it, and if this is about 
enlarging body parts, delete it from everyone's mailbox. And of course, the 
ISP should take whatever action it can, against the spammer. Reducing spam 
would be a huge saving for ISPs.

Readers are invited to add to this list...
Arun

http://www.hinduonnet.com/bline/stories/2003031102550100.htm
>Fall in Net subscribers turns ISPs jittery
>Vipin V. Nair
>ISPs have been demanding that there be a separate tariff for dial-up 
>Internet access. They also want a share of revenues from basic telephone 
>operators for helping generate significant volume of traffic through 
>dial-up access.
>NEW DELHI, March 10
>SENDING alarming signals to the country's Internet service providers 
>(ISPs), nearly two lakh subscribers have logged off since January this 
>year, even as the industry fears worse in the coming months due to an 
>increase in dial-up access charges.
>"We had about 40 lakh subscribers in December 2002. But informal feedback 
>from our members suggests that there has been a drop of about two lakh 
>since then," said Mr Amitabh Singhal, Secretary, ISP Association of India 
>(ISPAI).