ON THE FAST TRACK

To help you pick the best speed for your broadband connection, read on

A few days ago, Airtel started aggressive marketing of its high-speed Internet broadband connection, with speeds up to 8 Mbps. I remember the time when a dial-up provided the highest speed, then broadband appeared around 2000, and eventually the telecom revolution made sure all the homes were wired with 128 or 256 Kbps. A few months ago, the government-owned BSNL and MTNL made their 2 Mbps plans available to everyone, and TATA VSNL started offering a 1 Mbps, each trying to outshine the other.

But does one really require such high speeds? If no, then what speeds do you need? And is speed alone enough? I thought it would be a good idea to demystify speed: how much do you need and what are the best options available.

First, you need to specify your online requirements. If you use it for browsing and reading blogs, trading in the stock market or just for e-mailing, you can be put in Category 1. The people who use it for connectivity need a decent enough speed to be able to get the information on real-time basis.

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The other type of users, Category 2, buy music and movies online, download them, spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos or Webcasts.

Once your needs are defined, it’s easy to find the plan that suits you and the speeds you require. If you fall into the first category, a speed of 256 Kbps or 512 Kbps is good for you. As there’s not much downloading involved and the connection is used mainly for online reading and browsing, the following calculation should help you find an estimate for each session of Web browsing.

As one hour will take about 10 Mb of data transfer, if you choose a plan that offers you 1 GB (or 1,024 MB), you will be billed for higher utilisation after 102 hours of usage. So if you are a light user—one to two hours a day—these plans suit you best. If, on the other hand, you are online most of the time, try getting one of the unlimited plans: Airtel offers 256 Kb at Rs 999, Tata offers one at Rs 1,000 and BSNL at Rs 900.

If you fall into the second category, you probably end up watching a lot of videos. Each video file has 30-40 megabytes of information and it’s easy to cross the limit (1/2/4 GB) on your account, especially when you have high-speed Internet broadband connections. For higher speeds, only VSNL offers a 1Mbps unlimited plan at Rs 3,600 per month, while Airtel and BSNL offer pay-per-use plans.

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If you are hungry for speed and want the 2 Mb or an 8 Mb plan, look for the fine print—Airtel starts its 8 Mb plan at Rs 1,299 per month, which just includes 4 GB of data transfer and has an option of Rs, 19,999 per month for 100 GB of data transfer. So do your math carefully before opting for one.

Though most companies don’t manage even their 256 Kb connections well, time will tell whether they can work on these high-speed connects. If your need for speed is much higher, opt for one of these connections, otherwise let the players fight it out and offer their competitive plans, before you choose the one that’s right for you.

Gagandeep S. Sapra is the Chairman and CEO of System3 group of companies. gagandeepsystem3group.com