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The Department of Telecommunications has set up a committee to suggest measures to improve quality of Internet services in the country.

The committee, which includes officials from DoT, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited and Telecom Engineering Centre, will identify the barriers to effective and clean delivery of Internet access to users.

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The committee is expected to submit its report within a month.

It will look into technical issues surrounding slow throughput and relatively slow download time, which are common complaints of most Internet users in India.

It will make a thorough study of the telecom network, starting at the end-user level, to pinpoint any technical problem restricting delivery.

The committee will later take up remedial steps along with service providers concerned. Wherever needed, DoT will upgrade its own network to improve the quality of services, sources claimed.

Also in the offing is an open-house session with ISPs soon to discuss operational issues.

According to the ISP policy announced late last year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is to come out with guidelines concerning quality of Internet services.

Another common grudge of most Internet users has been of frequent breakdowns in Internet connectivity.

Delayed connectivity, low speed of Internet connection and poor helpdesk services are among the common complaints.

Service providers have complained of not getting adequate number of telephone lines. Absence of national Internet infrastructure is leading to overcrowding on the existing backbone and this is the single biggest bottleneck for the ISPs, points out Internet Consortium India Director Vikas Kanungo.

Moreover, lack of trained, skilled and experienced labour to maintain networks has had a big impact on the quality of services as well; he has been quoted as saying.

VSNL has been arguing that the bandwidth at present is more than sufficient to meet the level of Internet traffic in the country.

However, as more and more ISPs become operational and Internet traffic grows, demand for bandwidth is expected to rise exponentially.

As on April 27, DoT had issued 99 ISP licences, of which 18 are for all-India level and 34 for individual states. The remaining went to smaller ISPs.

As of now, three operators have started services on a national level. Private Internet service operators at present have a subscriber base of around 35,000.

According to a recent industry survey, there are 250,000 Internet subscribers and around 800,000 users in the country.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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