For better internet speed

Following complaints from subscribers regarding inadequate broadband speed being provided by the Internet Service Providers (ISP), TRAI has today issued guidelines for better Internet/ broadband services.

The majority of the grievances received by TRAI allege that the available broadband speed is lower than the subscribed speed.

The regulatory body states that non-availability of subscribed speed at the subscriber's end deteriorates the performance of applications run by users and in turn restricts the utility of broadband connection.

The trouble arises in spite of the existing "Quality of service of Broadband Service" regulation that was issued in the year 2006.

TRAI states that a number of factors impact broadband speed such as length and quality of local loop, bandwidth availability at ISP gateway, congestion in the global internet, problems with subscribers' equipment like insufficient memory, Operating System, Virus, etc.

Even though the existing regulation stipulates parameters for speed of connection and bandwidth utilization, it is because of such complexities monitoring of these parameters is complex, says TRAI.

The authority proposes, to begin with, that it is important to enhance subscriber education and awareness for better understanding of Internet services.

Based on the above point, the following are the guidelines for ISPs:

1. Provide adequate information to subscribers regarding Internet/broadband services being offered and marketed as a good business practice.

2. Provide information regarding contention ratios (number of users competing for the same bandwidth) adopted for different services by service providers in their tariff plans submitted to TRAI, manual of practice, call centers and on their websites."

3. Publish contention ratio for different Internet/broadband services on their website quarterly to facilitate subscribers to take informed decision.

4. Ensure availability of minimum required bandwidth in their network according to maximum contention ratio suggested by TRAI for different services based on number of subscribers.

Since guidelines are recommendations, and in this case, it means there aren't any deadlines to meet by the ISPs to start adhering to these guidelines.

Moreover, it is mentioned in the guidelines issuance notification that "any regulatory burden in present economic environment of Internet sector may increase the cost of service provisioning and will adversely impact the growth of broadband. The Authority prefers least regulatory intervention while providing greater flexibility to service providers to ensure better quality of service to internet/broadband subscribers."

Therefore, subscribers cannot expect ISPs to be in a hurry to enlighten subscribers with the nitty-gritty of why they cannot be assured better broadband services.

Source: Techtree.com