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Wireless Internet still unaffordable to individual users
KATHMANDU, DEC 25 - Although wireless Internet is easier to install, to repair and is far efficient than the dial-up connection, it has not been able to penetrate the individual users thanks to unaffordable charges.
The lowest charges an individual user has to pay for an unlimited wireless internet connection is Rs 6,000 rental (per month charge) plus Rs 10,000 deposit whereas an unlimited dial up connection costs just Rs 1,000 a month excluding telephone charges.
Internet service providers (ISPs) attribute high licence fee Rs 2.5 for very small aperture terminal (VSAT) provider and the charges for network service provider (NSP) which provide bandwidth, to the high cost.
ISPs provide two types of wireless connection: dedicated and shared links. While the shared link can provide the Internet service to as many as 20 computers, the capacity of dedicated link depends on the bandwidth.
According to Santosh Basnet, Marketing Manager of Global Internet Services, Pulchwok, Lalitpur, ISPs provide the wireless service at a bandwidth from 32 kilobytes per second (kbps) to 1,024 kbps.
The ISP has been providing wireless connection mostly to cyber cafes and other corporate clients.
It is better to those who use the service in a big volume and for long time. Bibek Maharjan, Proprietor of Black & White Cyber Café at Pulchwok, Lalitpur, says that the wireless connection is better than the dial-up service in terms of cost and speed. "Through the wireless connection we can get faster speed at the cost of dial-up service," he added.
Pavan Shakya, Director of Public Relations at World Link Communications Pvt Ltd, one of the leading ISPs, says that there is less possibility of occurring problem in wireless internet connection as there is no medium between the users and the service providers.
Similarly, the wireless connection can be provided within one and half-hours if the line of sight– the distance between the transmitter and the receiver– is clear and easy to shoot trouble, he added.
Another advantage of the service is that it can be operated in remote areas where telephone lines are not available. There is no packet loss in wireless connection compared to the copper wire connection or dial-up link.
Likewise, if the costs went down and it came within the reach of the individual users, it would also free a large number of basic telephone connections, which at present is very difficult to acquire.
ISPs say that they prefer wireless technology and ask the customers to use the same, as they have been tired of Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) asking for lease lines.
They argue that NTC has not been cooperative to them and take years for providing lease lines to the ISPs.Posted on: 2003-12-26 04:22
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