CAPS ON USAGE
In India, none of the 3G operators offer unlimited data plans. All the 3G plans available in the market have a cap on data usage and come with the rider that users will be charged extra for every kilobit of data consumed thereafter. Which is what makes their policy of throttling data even more baffling. Indian users don't even have the means to keep track or measure their data consumption on a daily basis. It's not until the data speeds start crawling that users realise that their 3G pipe has been throttled.
Telecom operators say that one of reasons for throttling speeds is to prevent bill shock at the end of the month, which is likely to happen if they were to charge extra for excess data usage. But rather than applying breaks on the speeds, the operator could inform the subscriber that he was nearing the data cap and then offer a top-up pack. Or better still, they could get creative and provide data plans for specific types of use, like consuming heavy amounts of video or playing many online games. That way the consumer would be able to continue to enjoy actual 3G speeds and at the same time, the operator would have earned more money out of the user. Throttling actually discourages consumers from using the service when it should be the opposite scenario.
Industry insiders say that operators are resorting to this mechanism because they haven't invested enough in their 3G networks. Most operators do not have the capacity to offer more data bandwidth than they already are and hence are forced to squeeze speeds. Not surprising therefore that a study done by Ericsson Consumer Lab reveals that around one-third of 3G users faced network related issue at least once daily. In addition to network quality issue, data connection reliability was a major concern highlighted by consumers.
Source !!
In India, none of the 3G operators offer unlimited data plans. All the 3G plans available in the market have a cap on data usage and come with the rider that users will be charged extra for every kilobit of data consumed thereafter. Which is what makes their policy of throttling data even more baffling. Indian users don't even have the means to keep track or measure their data consumption on a daily basis. It's not until the data speeds start crawling that users realise that their 3G pipe has been throttled.
Telecom operators say that one of reasons for throttling speeds is to prevent bill shock at the end of the month, which is likely to happen if they were to charge extra for excess data usage. But rather than applying breaks on the speeds, the operator could inform the subscriber that he was nearing the data cap and then offer a top-up pack. Or better still, they could get creative and provide data plans for specific types of use, like consuming heavy amounts of video or playing many online games. That way the consumer would be able to continue to enjoy actual 3G speeds and at the same time, the operator would have earned more money out of the user. Throttling actually discourages consumers from using the service when it should be the opposite scenario.
Industry insiders say that operators are resorting to this mechanism because they haven't invested enough in their 3G networks. Most operators do not have the capacity to offer more data bandwidth than they already are and hence are forced to squeeze speeds. Not surprising therefore that a study done by Ericsson Consumer Lab reveals that around one-third of 3G users faced network related issue at least once daily. In addition to network quality issue, data connection reliability was a major concern highlighted by consumers.
Source !!