What is the cost internet access in India?

-I will need price online by type of access, ie dial-up and broadband.
-The names major ISP's.
-Any price difference amongst the major metros.

Thanks

Hi chilebean,

  Good day. A simple one-word answer to your question is =
"expensive!" Internet first hit the Indian scene on August 15, 1996.
The only ISP was VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited). The cost for 500
hours dial-up was Rs.15,000. Speeds were between 9.6 kbps and 33.6
kbps. Student shell accounts were available for much cheaper. Today,
the prices are lower, maximum speed is 48 kbps (dial-up) and shell
acounts have been phased out. There are numerous ISPs...close to a
100.

The major ISPs and their pricing ($1=Rs.49 appprox.)

1. VSNL
http://www.vsnl.net.in
100 Hours dial-up Rs.788
500 Hours dial-up Rs.2,888
1000 Hours dial-up Rs.4,988
100 Hours ISDN Rs.2,993
500 Hours ISDN Rs.10,973
1000 Hours ISDN Rs.18,953
(Each plan valid for 3 years, 5MB mailbox)
Dedicated dial-up unlimited usage Rs.85,000
Dedicated ISDN unlimited usage Rs.160,000

2. Satyam
http://www.satyam.net.in
1 month unlimited dial-up usage Rs.799
3 months unlimited dial-up usage Rs.2199
100 hours dial-up Rs.990
500 hours dial-up Rs.3,390
1500 hours dial-up Rs.9,465

3. Dishnet
http://www.ddsl.net
1 month unlimited dial-up usage Rs.399
3 months unlimited dial-up usage Rs.1399
100 hours dial-up Rs.899
500 hours dial-up Rs.3,390
100 Hours ISDN Rs.2,000
500 Hours ISDN Rs.8,895
64kbps DSL (USB Modem) 500MB/month Registration Rs.29,970 + Rs.995 per
month
64kbps DSL (DSL Router) 500MB/month Registration Rs.49,500 + Rs.995
per month
128kbps DSL (DSL Router) 12GB/month Registration Rs.49,500 + Rs.9,990
per month
256kbps DSL (DSL Router) 24GB/month Registration Rs.49,500 + Rs.19,980
per month
512kbps DSL (DSL Router) 48GB/month Registration Rs.49,500 + Rs.39,960
per month

4. Pacific
http://www.pacific.net.in
1 month unlimited dial up Rs.299
6 months unlimited dial up Rs.1525
100 hours dial-up Rs.785

5. KMR Online
http://www.kmronline
Network connection (64 kbps to 2Mbps) Rs.4,500 registation + Rs.1,000
per month (unlimited downloads)
1 month unlimited dial-up usage Rs.250
3 months unlimited dial-up usage Rs.700
100 Hours dial-up Rs.700
500 Hours dial-up Rs.2,500
1000 Hours dial-up Rs.4,000
100 Hours ISDN Rs.2,500
500 Hours ISDN Rs.8,500
1000 Hours ISDN Rs.16,500

6. Hathway (CABLE)
http://www.hathway.com/packages/package.htm
The above URL summarizes the tariff. Its a bit too complicated to put
here.

7. Net4India
1 month unlimited dial-up usage Rs.399
3 months unlimited dial-up usage Rs.999
100 Hours dial-up Rs.799
500 hours ISDN Rs.9,999
ISDN 6 months unlimited Rs.19,950

The above prices are fixed for all cities.

I've used all the above ISPs and a couple more. Satyam is by far the
best, and that explains their high pricing.

As mentioned by neeraj in his comment, net cafes are found everywhere.
The major cafes are i-way (Satyam) and DSL Hub(Dishnet).

For dial-ups and ISDN, telephone charges also count. It comes to
between Rs.12 and 17 per hour.

I hope this has answered your question. Have a good day

Cheers,
aditya2k

Cost of getting online varies from the method you use. I will list
down below the rates of major ISPs (Dial up mainly):

Satyam Online (Sify) - 
50 hrs for Rs. 315
150 hrs for Rs. 840

There are a lot more plans all of them you can check out at 
http://www.sifymall.com/cgi-bin/bvsm/shopping/content/mall_brand.jsp?category_oid=-12590&brand_code=SIFY-SATYAM&showall=true


Now India - Start up package costs 290 (including initial activation)
This includes 25 hrs of internet usage. Check following link for more
details
http://home.now-india.net.in/direct.html

VSNL - chcek following links
http://tariff.vsnl.com/illnewmar2k1.htm
http://ispinfo.vsnl.com/

MTNL - They offer a number any body in cities of Delhi and Mumbai can
dial in and pay for net access charges in the phone bill itself.

Cost of getting online through a cable connections costs some  where
around 1000-1500 per month (excluding the cost of cable modem).

Its generally cheaper in southern cities (although the trend is
changing fast).

The net cafes are very cheap though. It costs 20-30Rs. per hour for a
very good connection (usually a VSAT link of 2 MBPS for 10-20 PCs).
These cafes are also operated by major ISPs like Sify and Dishnet.

Please reply back if you need more information, can get you tons of
information for this.

Regards
Neeraj

Thanks,

This will really help my school paper

I would also like to add, for DSL connections, typically the tarrifs
are as under

SPECTRANET   64 kbps shared (8:1)  Rs. 3,000 per month. No bandwidth
limitations

DISHNET         do                 Rs. 1,500 per month, bandwidth
charges after 1 GB

Higher bandwidth services are also available at proportionately higher
charges. The user pays for the modem / router and initial cabling
etc.. roughly US $ 600.

A Hughes.com subsidiary amongst others also offer, access through
Satellite. Leased lines were earlier available through VSNL only. They
are now available through most ISPs, such as

Mantraonline
Satyam
BSES
NOW


Over a 100 ISPs started business about 3 years ago, of these most were
regional or local players. Perhaps 8-10 serious players, with
something like a national presence are present. Some consolidation
seems to be happening around them.

While I agree that there is some price difference between various
metros, the pricing seems to be converging now. Essentially the price
difference is between the various operators, rather than different
location.

The prices, which continued to fall since the launch, more or less
bottomed out about 3- 4 months ago, and several ISPs have begun
increasing the prices now