Getting a Broadband Connection in Bangalore

After I moved to Bangalore in June ‘07, and after I had shifted in to my rented makaan , the first thing I wanted here was a decent internet connection (basic necessities for living these days are roti, kapda, makaan & broadband). Unfortunately enough, that was the last thing I could get (from the huge list I had, including all the house furniture).

I started my analysis of available options(BSNL, Reliance WiMax, Tata Indicom Broadband, Airtel & Sify) and shortlisted two of them, BSNL & Airtel. My colleagues guided me to go for Airtel as BSNL guys might take a long time to install it.

Chapter 1: Airtel
I applied for an Airtel connection over their helpline. They promised to get back to me within 3 working days. That did not happen. I called them again after 1 week only to get a new phone number to connect on. Luckily that new number was of the field incharge who told me that Airtel had not yet laid lines in my area (Bannerghatta Road, Bang Opp. IBM). I decided to move on and try my luck with the then new Relaince WiMax.

Chapter 2: Reliance WiMax
After I applied for a connection (to a third party, the new-connections department is outsourced) over the phone(I talked to some Mr. Satish at 9343337407). Within 3 days an executive from department visited me to collect a cheque for 562/- (500 + 12% tax). A fortnight after that (after a lot of following up ofcourse) the field officer visited my house for the installation. I thought this was my lucky day (I was wrong). He set up all his equipment and completed the installation. There is an antenna that he fixed on the terrace, which is basically the wimax receiver and extended the wire to my room. Now the signal strength for the net connection to function properly is a minimum of 18 units. Unfortunately for me, the maximum it could catch at my terrace was 17.6 units. The field officer told me that the signal strength is very important and he can not go ahead with the installation. He gave me a form for the refund. Amazingly, he was carrying the form with him.

Chapter 3: Tata Indicom Broadband
I applied for the Tata Indicom Broadband online. The site sent me an automated email saying that someone would get back to me with the feasibility. Astonishingly, someone did get back to me within 3 working days (as promised) and told me that they wont provide a connection at my place. Bullshit, I used to stay bang opp. IBM’s office on Bannerghatta Road adjacent to Jayanagar(this is like the center of the city).

Chapter 4: B.S.N.L. (best hai mere liye… its their tag line)
I applied for the BSNL connection on 2nd Sep 2007. They clearly told me that I’d get the landline phone after one month and the broadband after another one month atleast. . I still applied and paid 500/- advance.

Chapter 5: Sify Broadband
In the meanwhile, i applied for Sify Broadband. I knew that that the service would be pathetic, but as they say, beggars are not choosers. To my luck the installation service was not that pathetic. I got the connection in the next week itself. Now, Sify has outsourced the management and distribution of their service to local cable operators(computer/network education is not an eligibility criteria). The cable operator charged me 1000/- for service installation and 2800/- for the wiring that he had to extend(@70/- per meter). [As they say, beggars are not choosers]. The service had a lot of downtime and all, but it atleast worked for me.

Chapter 6: B.S.N.L. again.
I got the landline in November’07(more than 2 months after I had given the application). But to my surprise I also got the internet connection in November itself. I purchased the UTStarCom wifi modem from them (for 1800/-) and all was fine. I was a happy man untill I planned to shift in March’08. (I obviously got Sify disconnected in November)

Chapter: Now
Now at my new place(Purva Riviera, Marathahalli), BSNL has exhausted all the available internet ports and will only be able to provide more connections by September 2008. So I applied for Airtel again and got lucky this time. As it was the month end time, Airtel sales department had to meet some sales targets. The activated me Airtel Landline the very next day and provided me broadband connection right then(can you beat this?). I am still in the process of getting the BSNL connection disconnected.

I think: A better understanding of what was available in the neighborhood would have saved me a lot of trouble.

I dream: Bangalore gets connected by a open Wifi soon.