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Kripa Raman

MTNL has launched the ADSL2+ technology. Perhaps there's a case for giving it more time to be up and running.

MAHANAGAR Telephone Nigam Ltd is quite proud of itself. The Triband broadband service that it has launched in Delhi and Mumbai is based on ADSL2+ technology.

MTNL is among the first companies to launch an ADSL2+broadband service in the world. This technology, like DSL and ADSL, enables a telephone copper wire to be used to deliver broadband service, but of much greater bandwidth.

In fact, according to officials at D-Link India, the company that has supplied MTNL the ADSL2+ modems for its network, MTNL's Triband, is the "world's first commercial deployment of this technology." At least, its launch was simultaneous with the world's first ADSL2+technologies late last year.

Companies such as France Telecom, Bell South and Qwest Communications are planning their large-scale ADSL2+ deployments for this year. Most of the larger commercial deployments are expected to happen this year.

So, MTNL's large order of 1.5 lakh ADSL2+ modems is a very big first, says Guneshwara Rao, Head, Broadband, at D-Link India.

But uneasy is the head that wears such a modern crown. The whole organisation is a-churn now, trying to deliver this modern system to the doorstep of its consumers.

The system, say some MTNL officials, is just so modern that there are too many teething problems. Complaints of Internet connectivity just not happening or complaints of the whole system `hanging' from time to time are just too common, they say.

MTNL's linesmen and other service personnel do not seem to be able to help much either. It is after all, among the world's first experiments in the system. And reviews are erratic. There are those who are simply stunned by the surfing speeds they are able to achieve and there are some who say that they have never been able to surf the Net, says an MTNL officer in touch with the situation.

Rival cable-Internet players are quite smug about MTNL's service. They like to point out that such a modern technology as ADSL2+ will work under parameters that are very stringent and strict.

They like to point out that in several areas the copper lines of MTNL may not be able to handle the technology. Such has been the case with many operators in the world, where network upgradations have had to be made to get true triple-play (voice, data and video) speed through ADSL2+technology.

Also, the greater the distance of the consumer from the telephone exchange, the slower would be the surfing speeds available, and very different from the promised speeds. There could be many consumers who are located beyond the ideal range of a telephone exchange.

An MTNL official concedes that this may be so. In fact, the company advertisements themselves advertise that in certain instances the speeds may not match up to the minimum expected of 256 kbps.

"In all new projects, difficulties and teething problems are certain," says Piyush Agarwal who is in charge of broadband activity at MTNL in Mumbai. "But the network is very stable, and we are progressing very well."

He says MTNL is trying to resolve whatever problems exist. Groups of MTNL employees are also being sent to D-Link for training, says Rao. Further, formal upgrades will keep happening through the Web itself.

The other problem, he says, is that several companies do not have personal computers with the capability of handling the technology.

Although BSNL's consumers have been giving rave reviews of its broadband service, Rao points out that BSNL is still using ADSL technology and notADSL2+; also BSNL's contracts, going ahead, are going to be for ADSL2+technology as well. And, BSNL has some very old copper in some geographies of the country.

All in all, MTNL's is a bold and pioneering move and one should allow it time to settle down and prove its new service, he says.

Picture by Parth Sanyal

kripram@thehindu.co.in

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