If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times.
On all the things that matter, India is the pits.
Be it tackling poverty, addressing corruption, making watchable movies or fast Internet access the benighted country is hopeless.
Take for instance, Internet download speeds.
Despite the incessant noise about India harnessing IT and the Internet to forge ahead, India has one of the slowest average Internet download speeds (184KBps) for a supposedly fast developing country yearning for a place at the table of the advanced countries.
The U.S. is not bad with an average speed of 616KBps but South Korea is the best with an average speed of 2,202 KBps.
Sure, averages mask a lot of internal differences but you do get a broad idea of where a country stands vis-a-vis broadband by looking at the below interactive chart (move your mouse to see speed).
Our download speed in a mid-Atlantic state ranges from 20MBps-25MBps (i.e. 20,000 KBps-25,000 KBps) during the morning hours but tapers off sharply from 5:30PM-11:00PM to less than half.
But one thing that never ceases to amaze us is how Indians manage to illegally download all those pirated movies when they are handicapped by such low speeds.
Wonders never cease in Incredible India. 😉
Click or Move Your Mouse on Countries to See Download Speed
via chartsbin.com
Internet Download Speeds – India Pitiful, U.S. Decent added by SearchIndia.com on
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Wonders never cease in Amazing America either!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Like what?
Its an interesting post but before jumping to the desi-bashing, you should consider a few points. What is the average cost of the speed that you yearn for? For example Japan paid 27 cents for 1Mbps while US paid $3.3 .
Secondly how is the average speed calculated? Say if you have 2 1MBPS lines in Mumbai and 2 archaic 15KBps modem in Kashmir is your average 0.5 MBPS? In a small densely populated nation is quite easy to have high speed infra at significantly lower cost.
Thirdly what is the value created by having such internet speeds, by simple GDP numbers or software export numbers in terms of dollar value created per mbps. Sure Korea has high speed, but what is its contribution to the global economy?
Just some food for thought …..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Interesting points.
If you look at our post, we did mention that averages mask internal differences but do give a broad idea.
Second, if you are comparing cost per MBps then the right way is to use purchasing power parity. See http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/ppp.asp#axzz1YdPYrZsK
We’re skeptical the Gizmodo folks (see your above comment) did that. Plus, Internet speeds have gone up in the U.S. over the last two two-three years thanks to Verizon FIOS & Comcast upping download speeds. Our day-time average is 20MBps-25MBps and it comes down only for a few hours in the evening. We pay around $45 a month. Guess, you’re paying in the same ballpark. We wouldn’t be surprised if average price per MBps is coming down to $2 in the U.S. (your table pegs it around $3 per MBps).
Third, ’tis true, as you say, that in a small densely populated nation (or even in a high-rise apartment complex) it’s quite easy to have high speed infra at significantly lower cost. That should be true of Indian cities like Mumbai as well but we suspect speeds are not high enough even in Indian metros.
Fourth, on the issue of value created by higher Internet speeds we’re not sure where that discussion is headed. But if you’re talking of a leisure society aka developed countries then certain minimums are uninterrupted power, high-speed Internet (would a streaming service like Netflix work across India), 40-hour work week (in theory) etc. So, high-speed Internet, irrespective of its contribution to the GDP, becomes a sine qua non in a so-called leisure society like the U.S.
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Off-topic: A fine PoSoyGin cocktail created by SI – Gilbey’s Gin + Bolthouse Pomegranate juice + Soy Milk – Shake well for a heavenly drink. Great with Haldiram Bhel-Puri.
Who says we can’t levitate!
Mahesh Yogi, here we
cumcome. 😉The gizmodo data is dated and the source does not have any recent stats. Wonder if they went bankrupt 🙁
What’s FIOS/Comcast bandwidth cap? 1TB or lesser? With speeds going up and streaming hogging the bandwidth at peak hours, the monkeys who run the major telecom providers are resorting to all sorts of “hurdles”.
(See Netflix vs. ISPs legal battle).
Its like having a nice autobahn constructed but either speed limits or a car with limited gas tank (choose your poison), or being offered a night with Eva Green but contractually stipulated to … only drinking lassi with her 😉
India did try to open up the mobile spectrum and it lead to the 2G, 3G..scandals. Attempting to increase net speeds will give opportunities for simians like Raja to loot the public.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: What’s FIOS/Comcast bandwidth cap? 1TB or lesser?
Comcast bandwidth cap is 250GB. You can see your usage by logging into your account. There’s a chart with daily usage.
In India, the ISPs are reluctant to invest in the necessary infrastructure because the country still does not have a strong consumer pushback for poor service levels.
@SI: “Despite the incessant noise about India harnessing IT and the Internet to forge ahead, India has one of the slowest average Internet download speeds (184KBps) for a supposedly fast developing country yearning for a place at the table of the advanced countries.”
Very true indeed. I am not sure about other Metros, but in Chennai, where BSNl and Airtel, hold the top spots for ISPs, the average speed surely is more than 254 kbps (At least as per the Broadband plan) In reality, every ISP cheats on their broadband speed. It is mostly around 160-180 kbps even though they mention 254 kbps.
For example, I have an Airtel broadband connection, which came with an initial speed of 256 kbps. Then, they upgraded it to 512 kbps in 2010 at no increase in cost, now I get a speed of 2 MBPS till 10GB limit and 256 kbps after 10GB. And I pay 900 bucks in Indian rupees, which amounts to 20 dollars for 0.5 MB 🙁
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. $20 for 0.5MBps is robbery. Plus, the 2 MBPS till 10GB limit and 256 kbps after 10GB is plain nonsense.
Corporations in the Third World are worse than they are here.
When we purchased the first iPhone some 3+ years back, we were supposed to get unlimited 3G Internet for $30 extra per month. Now we must (can’t get out of the data plan) pay the $30 per month but AT&T has started throttling “Unlimited Internet” for ‘heavy users.’
Without government regulations, corporations ride roughshod on consumers but corporations increasingly control the government. 🙁
2. You write: In reality, every ISP cheats on their broadband speed.
BTW, you can easily test your download/upload speed by visiting either http://www.speedtest.net/ or http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
@Ashwin
Even I had a broadband connection initially with a connection speed of 256 Kbps which I upgraded to a 2 MBPS connection. But my download limit is higher. It was previously 8 GB but now it’s 20 GB. After that my speed reverts back to 256 KBPS.
@SI
Right now, when I download movie torrents, my download speeds are as high as 500 to 515 KBPS(but it does go as low as 60 KBPS once a while) and the average download speed is about 320 to 380 KBPS. Living in a country like India, I sure do find it decent. The 20 GB limit I mentioned often gets over in about 4 to 6 downloads because I usually download only movies which are 4 to 10 GB in size.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
If you’re torrenting, you might as well torrent some movies that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise see instead of (re)watching old Vijay films like Kuruvi, Villu or Sura. 😉
Point Blank (French), The Hedgehog (French), Toast and Midnight in Paris are some recent films that have earned high plaudits from critics.
“If you’re torrenting, you might as well torrent some movies that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise see instead of (re)watching old Vijay films like Kuruvi, Villu or Sura. 😉 ”
Come on, who would see that clown’s movies when I can get access to other fine hollywood movie? I’ve told you I’m fed up of this clown Vijay and his movies 🙁
I’ll definitely check out the movies you mentioned.
Btw, have you seen Cemetery Junction? I was able to see only a little bit of it and it was good till what I saw.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, haven’t seen Cemetery Junction. Will see it next week. Just added to Netflix queue.
Later today, we plan to watch the award-winning Spanish film Cell 211.
http://www.speedtest.net/
Yes I have tested my broadband speed. Fortunately, I get the expected 512 MBPS as promised. Btw, my Internet connection comes from a junction box that has a sole line to it. Unlike in the city, where a junction box is used to connect numerous lines. Not sure whether they affect the broadband speed though.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
With all the data limits and slow speeds, God help all you frisky young folks when you want to watch endless porn on the weekends! 😉
We suppose you guys still rely on VHS tapes, DVDs & Nayantara movies. Well, there are some advantages with the VHS Tapes/DVD when you are watching with a partner, both hands are free. With the PC, one hand is instinctively on the mouse leaving you short-handed!
A laptop is a completely different ball game, or should we say balls-game. 😉
“God help all you frisky young folks when you want to watch endless porn on the weekends! 😉
We suppose you guys still rely on VHS tapes, DVDs & Nayantara movies. Well, there are some advantages with the VHS Tapes/DVD when you are watching with a partner, both hands are free. With the PC, one hand is instinctively on the mouse leaving you short-handed! ”
Lol 😀 Porn used to be a part of our downloads long back, but fortunately they have given way to better stuff now 😉
As for VHS Tapes, they were history long back. The last time I saw a VHS was way back in late 90s. I think Anaconda was the last film I watched on VHS. Post 2000, it has always been DVDs here.
Just curious why did you mention Nayanthara. Never knew she did porn movies?????
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Just curious why did you mention Nayanthara. Never knew she did porn movies?????
The first time we watched Nayantara don a micro-mini skirt in the rain, flash her thighs, repeatedly hit her right buttock and spread her legs wideeeee in Kuselan, we mistakenly thought the director had added a porn segment to boost its prospects.
It’s easily possible that other innocent souls like yours truly might also mistake the scene for a soft-porn though it isn’t.
Alas, not even a lavish display of Nayantara’s succulent thighs could save Kuselan from the dust-heap of Tamil movies.
I could be mistaken,but I think that there are almost as many,if not more,horny desis on this planet as Gora/Gori’s here in the west….just saying….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Given the furious pace at which Indians breed, there’s surely more of desis vis-a-vis any activity you pick – Raping, Murdering, Smuggling, Cheating, Mugging, Philandering, Sucking, Buggering, Screwing etc.
The speeds that I get are pretty good – considering the cost. I pay Rs. 1,100 for a connection in Coimbatore and I get 1 MBPS during the day (6 am – 9 pm) and 2 MBPS at night. We initially bought 512 kbps for the same price, but they upgraded the speed at no extra cost. I checked the speeds, and they seem to be exactly what they should be.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
One reason for low speeds in India is perhaps because a lot of people use mobile broadband cards there. Just hypothesizing.
Few use mobile cards here – Expensive, data caps of 2GB-5GB, low speeds & overall not a good experience.
True. Mobile cards are becoming cheap here – cap of 12 GB is around 899, after 12 GB the speed comes down to 256 kbps – I think. Its convenient for everyone since internet is not available like it is over there all over the place.
Another fact is that in Metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Chennai etc., the infrastructure is decent, but the number of people exceed the capacity of the infrastructure, so they never get the speed that is promised. In a city like Coimbatore, which is neither a Metropolitan city, but nor is it a town – so the infrastructure is good, and it is not overloaded like in the bigger cities.