Who is scared of BSNL broadband?

Broadband service providers feel their services will survive, despite BSNL's 256kbps connectivity. By Venkatachari Jagannathan

Chennai: The entry of public sector giants Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with their huge landline subscriber bases into the 256kbps broadband internet access market with aggressive tariff plans has spurred the private sector access providers to match the pace of the behemoths. (See: BSNL hits the broadband highway)

Responding to the challenge, the Bharti group has brought down its broadband service rates while increasing the access speed.

The new development is expected to impact the cable internet access providers whose growth has come at the expense of dial-up access offered by the telcos. Moreover, cable internet access providers are present only in small pockets.

But Jayant R Changrani, vice president, Networks and ISP, and head of commercial operations, Hathway Cable and Datacom Private Limited is unperturbed.

"Hathway Cable provides high quality video (cable TV) and data services through its network. The net access speed ranges from 128kbps to 30mbps. The company also provides internet telephony. With the launch of digital cable TV services, Hathway Cable is ideally suited to provide triple-play services to its subscribers. Our USP is our value proposition of broadband services with digital video."

An electronics engineer with 16 years of industry experience Changrani is responsible for new product / services development and technology initiatives. Prior to joining Hathway Cable, he was the head of business, Enterprise Networks, with GTL Limited.