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Massive WiMax Network for India

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-bully-for-them-then dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Engadget reports that the largest Indian telecom company is planning to build a mobile WiMax network covering three states on the subcontinent capable of serving 250 million people. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is leaning on Soma Networks to build the broadband-speed network in response to government requirement that 20 million broadband lines be in service by 2010." Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India.

145 comments

  1. Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe it's time to move to India.

          Why not. Your job already has.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Alsn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The first though that popped into my mind was instead the following:

      Maybe it's time to start a web based company such as a store or a downloading service in india... ;)

    2. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by arktemplar · · Score: 0, Troll

      Ok, now despite being Indian I hate it when you this statement is made. Do you WANT to do low end coding or do you want to work on the actualy design of your software/hardware system. The part that has been outsourced to india is this low quality back end donkey work that can essentially be done by any one who can type a hello world program if the code is shown to them(Yes, I am exagerating). Explain to me please if you would really want to be doing that sort of work rather than designing the app, or modifying the algo etc. If not well too bad I am sure you can come here and work for low pay we have it seems a promise of WiMax.

      --
      blog plug -> The Darker Side of Light
    3. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by the_masked_mallard · · Score: 1

      FYI, companies in India have started outsourcing too, to other companies in India. I know of a lot of places where work is being outsourced or contractors being hired to do low end work. Although a lot of work being done in India is low end, there are places with good work too. BTW, I am also Indian.

    4. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, now despite being Indian I hate it when you this statement is made. Do you WANT to do low end coding or do you want to work on the actualy design of your software/hardware system. The part that has been outsourced to india is this low quality back end donkey work that can essentially be done by any one who can type a hello world program if the code is shown to them

      Meanwhile companies back here in the US cry and sob that there are no ready-made senior-level employees for them to hire for rates far below the level that the self-created scarcity of such labor should command, since they shipped all the entry level positions overseas and can no longer find and promote their own talent from within. Then they demand that the US government do something about the consequences of their own stupidity, and of course as has been demonstrated by every administration for decades, the government is always ready to shit itself on command for the corporations when they're "being taken advantage of" by the people.

      Cue trickle down apologists who think the government should always bail out software developers, mortgage firms, S&L ponzi schemes, airlines, and any other rich-enough company while leaving the people "taking advantage of those companies" high and dry.

    5. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Dunbal · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It was a joke, silly, not a lament. I think India has come a LONG way in the past 20 years and I really hope that it fulfills its destiny as a major economic force in the world in the near future. I personally am anti-US or perhaps more specifically anti-Bush, and snigger every time the US has another finger slip from its tenuous position as the "world leader". But, yet again we have demonstrated that it's very difficult to effectively transmit sarcasm over the internet.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    6. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Who would want a program written by low end coders? It would be like having a couch made out of shoddy materials, except that you could never get rid of it. If you are using a badly designed program and start using it for your day-to-day needs then that application contains all your data, and is often essential to how you do business. It's like like a couch where you can just throw it away, get a new one, and continue on as if the other one existed. Thinking you can do software with "Hello World" programmers is just asking for trouble. Even if you get them to do it, and then hand it off to a qualified team for maintenance, it's going to be a nightmare to maintain.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    7. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by mi · · Score: 1

      I personally am anti-US

      Be sure to declare this, should you find yourself trying to get into our country. Thanks...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    8. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by canuck57 · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's time to move to India.

      Why not. Your job already has.

      I was thinking Brazil myself. Nice weather and good place to retire. Probably more stable and less people per square km. Less strife and unrest.

      And with how many people there are in India, WiMax will be maxed out to a point it isn't very reliable or usable, much like many support centers I have had to recently use.

    9. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by SimplyFearless · · Score: 1

      India doesn't allow foreigners to come in and work, or take jobs away from it's citizens, even if those foreigners are cheaper, better trained, better skilled, more capable and more competent in general. Ha.

    10. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Lally+Singh · · Score: 1

      Lots of internal business apps are written this way. Either by internal teams or consultants. The good programmers work for mainstream software vendors, and the rest (e.g. the lower 80% of the graduating CS majors, and everyone else who took a programming course in college) take these gigs.

      Frankly, it comes down to not being able to get the good programmers to do it. They're either superpriced consultants or utterly unavailable as employees of software vendors that aren't going to write the code you want.

      --
      Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
    11. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention a lot of the facts stated in that article for the lack of presence of Brazilian presence in the US market are completely bullshit. It's true that most brazilians don't speak english, but it's false that most brazilians _on a corporate environment_ don't speak english - while I can't say that the opposite is true, there's enough workforce available that can handle the "interface" with the US market. Sure, the article is about 4 years old, but even back then it wasn't much worse than it is today.

      I'm sure there may be other factual errors, but I lost interest when I read "The two primary languages in Brazil are Spanish and Portuguese" - typical US ignorance. There's only one primary language on Brazil: Portuguese. The ratio of people who speak Spanish on Brazil is not much bigger than those who speak english, and it only is so because of immigrants of neighbouring countries.

      The only thing that holds back Brazil's presence on the US market is US long-standing protectionism and the notion that all brazilians are stupid.

    12. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by superash · · Score: 1

      Foreigners will never get a chance because there is always some indian who will work for less.

    13. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why, given that it would only cause me hassle trying to get home? I'll skip the protests at the border and save them for when they can be seen by my fellow citizens.

      Or did you think only non-citizens were anti-US?

    14. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by PaneerParantha · · Score: 3, Insightful
      That's false.

      And has been shown to be so many times over here.

      1. The latest example of a foreigner working in India is Mr. Gary Kirsten (http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/45813.html), the Indian cricket coach. The two coaches before him were Australian and New Zealander respectively.

      2. Australian cricketers routinely accept advertising contracts (and in one case a movie role) in India.

      3. There are backpackers from Europe working in call-centers.

      Your statement is not grounded in facts at all.

    15. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Do you WANT to do low end coding or do you want to work on the actualy design of your software/hardware system. The part that has been outsourced to india is this low quality back end donkey work that can essentially be done by any one who can type a hello world program if the code is shown to them

      I don't think it is necessarily "low end", often its just the side of things that are less customer-facing. It may be some intricate algorithm that is already fairly-well described in the requirements, but requires a lot of heads-down work. It's the end of pure tech here. We are gradually forced to become "technical liaisons" between those who do heads-down coding overseas/visas and the customer/client. Perhaps liaison work is a good thing, perhaps not. But, our choices are shrinking regardless.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    16. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by oook_in · · Score: 1

      India doesn't allow foreigners to come in and work Untrue.
    17. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by stonewolf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well, I was one of those people doing high level design working in the R&D department of my company. I did a lot of research and design and a fair about of coding for the products we were developing.

      One day I came in and found out that all the US employees of the company were being laid off. The owners of the company had found a software company in India that they could just buy for nothing and moved *all* the work, including R&D, to India. I guess that is at least one data point against the idea that only the grunt work has moved to India.

      The first year I was unemployed I was able get a few interviews and some contract working running doing testing and one gig helping a company figure out how incompetent the US development staff was. (There are a lot of people all over the world who can write a program but are not qualified to design so much as a turd.)

      The second year there were fewer contract jobs and interviews.

      The third year I retrained as a teacher. After the third year the *only* company that has shown any interest in hiring me was an Indian company that was desperate enough for experienced people to offer to pay my relocation to India. After my kids are out of college my wife and I are seriously considering moving to India or China. I know a couple of people in my situation who are now living like kings pulling down what would be considered good US salaries, being paid in Euros, living in India and China.

      Now I make a good wage (for an Indian) teaching people in the US what "click and drag" means. Believe it or not, but a *huge* portion of the people graduating from high school in the US have never used a PC and are scared shitless of having to use one. An even bigger portion of people over thirty do not know what "click and drag" means.

      So, lets cut the crap about the quality of the jobs going to India. The only reason Indians aren't getting those jobs is that so many of them do not have the experience to do them. In India those jobs are being filled by Americans and Europeans with decades of experience. Not to mention the huge number of Indians and Chinese who went to school in the US and have worked here for decades who are now going back to start, run, or do high level work, in India and China.

      Stonewolf

    18. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think India has come a LONG way in the past 20 years and I really hope that it fulfills its destiny as a major economic force in the world in the near future.

      Me too. We need more strong democracies.

      I personally am anti-US or perhaps more specifically anti-Bush

      Keep in mind that half the US population can't stand Bush either. He has tricked the other half using simplistic logic and religious games. I'm sure India will have its share of nightmare politicians. Democracy sometimes burps loudly.

      and snigger every time the US has another finger slip from its tenuous position as the "world leader".

      Just be careful what you wish for. The US's foreign policy is dominated more by incompetence than an attempt at "taking over the world". However, a different super-power may want more of the second.

      But a strong India as a counter-weight to the US would be a nice thing. Who knows, if wages go up in India, then perhaps you will start outsourcing to us. Or, at least stuff will be more balanced out. It will be an interesting fusion of cultures.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    19. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WiMax is skynet infrastructure. Don't use it if you want to keep ur fr33d0m.

    20. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Ravon+Rodriguez · · Score: 1

      Being anti-US for a US citizen is a big ol' bucket of self hate. Hate Bush. Hate Republicans. Hate the government in general. But hating the US is hating your own heritage.

      --
      Jesus loves me, he loves me a bunch, because he always puts Jiffy in my lunch.
    21. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Be sure to declare this, should you find yourself trying to get into our country. Thanks...

            Yes, because "freedom of speech" means something different in your country. No Mr. Paranoid, I won't declare it because I enjoy free travel across borders (it's one of the human rights you know) and don't want to be locked up on "terror" charges for speaking my mind. But don't worry, I won't be strapping any explosives to myself. You guys are doing a great job of destroying your own country as it is. Meanwhile I'll just keep taking your money on Wall Street.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    22. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by mi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, because "freedom of speech" means something different in your country.

      Nope, "freedom of speech" means exactly the same here as it always has. You are free to proclaim your hatred, we are free to deny you entry.

      I enjoy free travel across borders (it's one of the human rights you know)

      No, it is not, unfortunately.

      don't want to be locked up on "terror" charges for speaking my mind.

      Has not happened to anyone yet — don't overestimate your importance. Even burning the flag (incredibly offensive and banned in many other countries) is still legal here...

      Meanwhile I'll just keep taking your money on Wall Street.

      You mean, you'll continue to participate in our markets? Great — we welcome all kind...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    23. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who would want a program written by low end coders?

      Who do you think wrote MS piece-of-junk windows which runs on 95% of the world's pcs? There goes the All-American (read "White Anglo Christian Male") superiority propaganda. And I wonder why people blame Nazi's for their Aryanism!!

    24. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by mikael · · Score: 1

      When I develop software modules, the stages are generally:

        (Research, Design, Implement, Test )*, Integrate (with main system)

      During the implement and test stages, many new ideas are formed which get passed back to the research and design stages for the next generation. How can the two be split? All you are succeeding in doing is giving away the designs and improvements for your next generation products.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    25. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by ghoul · · Score: 1

      Thats bullshit. India actually has an open border policy. If you show an offer letter from an Indian company you and your family get resident permits. As long as you have a job you can stay as long as you want. You only have to renew the permit each year by showing current employment

      --
      **Life is too short to be serious**
    26. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who knows, if wages go up in India, then perhaps you will start outsourcing to us.

      It's already happening. While I don't have a reference for India outsourcing to the US, I do know of at least one prominent instance where it has happened. As for backing it up the general claim with a reference, how about this: NYT from Oct 07.

    27. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by cerberusss · · Score: 1

      (...) But, yet again we have demonstrated that it's very difficult to effectively transmit sarcasm over the internet.
      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
      WTF man!! You mistreat animals and DARE to put it in your signature?!! You are SO lame!!!?!
      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
    28. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by SimplyFearless · · Score: 0

      Ah, Well ok then. Let me clarify. For every 48,752 Indians working in the USA, there is one (1) foreigner working in India. Smiles.

    29. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by SimplyFearless · · Score: 0

      Show me a link, something with http://india.gov.in/ in it, that documents your alleged open door policy. I looked. Couldnt find it. Presumably it doesnt exist. I know a heck of alot of Chinese citizens would love to come to India and work for cheap. heh.

    30. Re:Tongue in cheek to the submitter by SimplyFearless · · Score: 0

      Rather than just say "untrue" show me a link, say, to India's Government Site on Immigration and Control. Show me a link, something with http://india.gov.in/ in it, that supports your "untrue" statement. I looked. Couldnt find it. Presumably it doesnt exist. I know a heck of alot of Chinese citizens would love to come to India and work for cheap. heh.

  2. Like mobile phones by apathy+maybe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is a good reason for under-developed countries like India not to invest in cabling. It is the same reason why such countries have so many mobile phones as compared to landlines.

    Mobile phone towers are a lot cheaper to put up then running cables everywhere, they are a lot easier to upgrade, etc. (One reason why Japan and (West) Germany were able to do so well economically after WW2 was all the new equipment, all the old stuff having been bombed. Yes the money helped, but France got that money too...)

    Anyway, good oh.

    --
    I wank in the shower.
    1. Re:Like mobile phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are also VERY good reasons for companies in the US to deploy WiMAX ... and we ARE.
      Check out www.xohm.com - this service will be launching much sooner than most people realize. The buildout is in it's advanced stages and the final preparation to get "product on the shelves" is underway.

    2. Re:Like mobile phones by freedom_india · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Unfortunately mobile towers have the least redundancy in disaster times.
      All mobile towers have a 99% utilisation in india.
      It means if all the mobile users dial at the same time, you get a network busy tone. Heck i get a network busy tone about 30% of the time.
      During a storm the mobile network is the first to fail.

      Meanwhile the landline is the strongest network india has.
      If the power goes off, the generators in the exchanges run it for 24 hours, and even if they fail, the batteries keep them for another 14 hours.
      The generators are topped off with fuel almost weekly.

      The mobile towers run on batteries for 7 hours max. After that they start dropping off one by one.

      --
      "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
    3. Re:Like mobile phones by audi100quattro · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure which states this network is going to cover, but India is a pretty dense country. Wired would be more cost effective for the major cities and states. BSNL is known for having the best rural coverage so maybe it won't skimp on additional/redundant wireless and backhaul bandwidth. Still, covering 250 million people with 1.5Mbit is Sprint's goal too, and I doubt BSNL is going to spend the billions Sprint has. Not to mention Sprint's backbone is probably 10x as better as BSNL's as far as peak capacity goes.

      This is a government mandate and wireless is the easiest way to get there as long as too many people don't use it at the same time. A wired network for the major cities could have covered just as many people and offered 10x the aggregate bandwidth for around the same cost for any one city covering 1/10 of the population.

    4. Re:Like mobile phones by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Also, there is only so much bandwidth available in the electromagnetic spectrum. Once you fill the spectrum, it's very hard to find more capacity. With cabling, you can always add a little bit more, or use fibre optics to carry more data over the same size cable. Sure there's still limits, but cabled communications can provide much more bandwidth than wireless ever will. Wireless is the cheap way out that works now, but doesn't account for future growth. It's already becoming a problem with too many wireless routers in my building, and there's a very low percentage of people with wireless routers. I think it would be quite bad if everyone in the building had a wireless router.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    5. Re:Like mobile phones by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Your comment seems to imply that cabling is better than wireless.While this is certainly true for optic fibres,wireless will beat conventional copper twisted pair cabling hands down in many cases.The cost/capacity ratio is simply too skewed in favour of wireless,in India.And this has nothing to do with India being "under-developed".This is simple engineering. Anyway,India has a significant investment in Optic Fiber channels.There are companies both in public and private sectors,that specialize in making optic links,as well as the associated electronics. Our telephone network sucked big time around the beginning of the 1980's,with poor connectivity and very very bad voice quality.That was the time when optic fibre came into the market in a big way.The expanding indian landline sector embraced it ,and as a result we have surplus capacity on all our optic links today. The bigger issue in India,so far as cabling goes,is the digging up of roads and getting government permissions.It is such a big hassle ,that most private operators have laid down many times(typically 10-15) the capacity they need. The base stations are connected by fibre optic rings.Wireless is only for the "last mile" link.That being the case,concerns expressed about spectrum exhaustion seem to be misplaced.You have to remember that there are no tall structures in Indian villages.A strategically located base station has a much larger footprint in such conditions.Propogation is essentially free space(until it hits the tree canopies), with the associated low attentuation and superior quality for much lower investment.

    6. Re:Like mobile phones by andy1307 · · Score: 1

      This is more like Wireless in Local Loop.

    7. Re:Like mobile phones by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 0

      Exactly.As they say,you hit the nail on .... This is how reliance manages to give decent voice quality while still having fairly good coverage in rural areas.The government is also actively promoting it for the same reasons. Incidentally,this idea was pioneered ,in part,at IIT in the late 1990's,when the wireless sector was still in its infacy in India.It is applicable in any part of the world where legacy networks are nascent or non-existent.But it is particularly desirable in India,especially in semi-urban and rural India.

    8. Re:Like mobile phones by gnuman99 · · Score: 1

      Spectrum utilization is very, very important especially for large deployments. 250M => crazzy slow speed.

      Anyway, wireless is least reliable, least secure method of deployment. It is also cheapest to deploy in the near term. In the long term, fiber is cheaper and by far more reliable and expandable.

      WiMax may be a good secondary, low bandwidth connection to fiber/DSL. It is not a reliable primary connection though.

    9. Re:Like mobile phones by RealGrouchy · · Score: 1

      It means if all the mobile users dial at the same time, you get a network busy tone. A side point, but if everybody is dialing out, then there is nobody with an idle line for any of these people to try to call.

      I know, not what you meant...

      - RG>
      --
      Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
    10. Re:Like mobile phones by sameerds · · Score: 1

      And of course, phone towers are far more difficult to steal than wires!

    11. Re:Like mobile phones by ap7 · · Score: 1

      In India, mobile towers are usually backed up with gensets. This is because erratic power supply caused by massive electricity shortage makes is absolutely neccesary to.

    12. Re:Like mobile phones by gururaj · · Score: 1

      India is not a underdeveloped country.Its a transforming country. Know this before you comment

    13. Re:Like mobile phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They could be calling landlines, you know! :)

  3. Try making a well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They should try making a clean water well capable of serving 250 million people.

    1. Re:Try making a well by calebt3 · · Score: 0

      Some things (like Internet) are more important than clean water.
      (-:

    2. Re:Try making a well by AndGodSed · · Score: 1

      I hope you are joking... or you have clearly never been stuck without water...

      --

      Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity

    3. Re:Try making a well by calebt3 · · Score: 1

      I was joking.

    4. Re:Try making a well by AndGodSed · · Score: 1

      I thought as much!

      --

      Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity

    5. Re:Try making a well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      are you really such a fucking DOUCHEBAG that you have to ask this?

  4. Meanwhile... by dcollins · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India."

    Dude, the free market solves all problems. Didn't you get the memo?

    --
    We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    1. Re:Meanwhile... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      XOHM (www.xohm.com) is coming *very* soon and will offer WiMAX across the US. Our WiMAX buildout will be complete long before India's is. Many parts of the network are already operational and many active (non-commercial) users are on the network today. Performance is also VERY good, better than advertised.

    2. Re:Meanwhile... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, I didn't get the memo. I'm on dialup - can't check my email more than twice a day without my flatmate yelling about tying up the phone.

    3. Re:Meanwhile... by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      XOHM will make your city one big hot spot (COVERAGE NOT AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE).

            So I can get access everywhere except where I can't. Yawn. Call me when you have more than a couple silly videos to offer.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    4. Re:Meanwhile... by Bluesman · · Score: 1

      "Meanwhile, nobody will subsidize the cable service that I want so the costs are mostly hidden from me and borne by others who wouldn't otherwise pay for it."

      There, fixed that so it will make more sense to you.

      --
      If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
    5. Re:Meanwhile... by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      So I can get access everywhere except where I can't. Yawn. Call me when you have more than a couple silly videos to offer.
      What, you think the Indian service will offer connectivity across 100% of the nation? Are you on crack?
    6. Re:Meanwhile... by bigpicture · · Score: 1

      Exactly! I see this argument all the time, where the interests of the John Q Citizen is presumed to be served by the free market. Like the interests of the large Corporations and the individual were presumed to be one and the same by the elected government. So when it comes to government loyalties, is it where the votes come from, or where the money comes from? The conflict of interests broken government contention! (I am presuming that your post was sarcastic here.)

    7. Re:Meanwhile... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Your sig (at the time of writing):

      I don't respond to Anonymous Cowards. And, no, I am NOT an American. You suck and your momma is fat. You cannot respond MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!
    8. Re:Meanwhile... by falconwolf · · Score: 1

      "Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India."

      Dude, the free market solves all problems. Didn't you get the memo?

      What free market? There isn't one.

      Falcon
      --
      Should there be a Law?
    9. Re:Meanwhile... by Daimanta · · Score: 1

      True, if there was a free market you'd be able to buy a sarcasm detector ;)

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    10. Re:Meanwhile... by falconwolf · · Score: 1

      True, if there was a free market you'd be able to buy a sarcasm detector ;)

      It's hard to detect sarcasm without visual cues, especially on /. where so many don't understand or know what a free market is.

      Falcon
      --
      Should there be a Law?
    11. Re:Meanwhile... by ap7 · · Score: 1

      I don't think you've studied the Indian telecom market. If you look closely, a free and extremely competitive market has made the telecom business what it is today. Compare this with the regulated market that you love so much from 20 years ago in the same country and you will see the difference.

  5. Wimax or infrastructure by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 0, Troll

    I dunno, if someone said I had to choose between wimax and say, toilet paper, I'm going with toilet paper. (My sister recently went to India, and to her surprise, in most of India there is no toilet paper.)

    --
    stuff |
    1. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by freedom_india · · Score: 1

      Where did she go? To remote no-road villages??? If she had been to cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Poona, Bombay, Madras, Jaipur, Nagpur, Calcutta, and even smaller towns like Solapur, Erode, Cochin, etc., she can buy toilet papers of 4 different brands in packets of one or four.
      She should visit a shop for that. They don't deliver toilet paper home.
      How i say this?
      By experience: I had to travel between half the cities mentioned above, and i could buy it.

      --
      "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
    2. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by AndGodSed · · Score: 1

      Well THAT'S certainly crappy...

      --

      Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity

    3. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by superash · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is exactly the kind of bullshit that I cannot take. Your sister comes to India and expects everything here to be like USA(going by your contact info at your homepage)? Would you have taken the same kind of comment from me if I was in the US and was asking for something that we Indians did over here? You would've have said -" If you want that then stay the fuck in your country". So, you get my point.

    4. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by the_masked_mallard · · Score: 2, Informative

      When in Rome ... etc etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_cleansing#Water FYI, I am Indian.

    5. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 0, Redundant

      I agree with you.I hope the OP's was ignorant,and not biased.Nastiness against indians has been on the rise on slashdot.This can only get worse in the coming years as we increase in stature in tech and manufacturing. Time for a SLASHDOT.IN?? btw i'm indian too.

    6. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      "If you want that then stay the fuck in your country". You didn't just tell someone that if they want toilet paper then they need to stay the fuck out of India, did you? Because that's sure what it looks like to me.

      Would you have taken the same kind of comment from me if I was in the US and was asking for something that we Indians did over here? Yeah, I would. You want some ghee, garam masala, a tongue scraper? I'd send you to the local Indian store. I sure wouldn't tell you to go back to India, nor would anyone else with an ounce of common sense.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    7. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by stormguard2099 · · Score: 1

      If your general prowess with humor is a good representation of most Indians then I shudder at the thought of the memes that would arise from slashdot.IN

      --
      http://greenobyl.com/ please.... think of the children!!
    8. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by neomunk · · Score: 1

      All your Madirs are belong to us? :-D

    9. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by jalfreize · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Recently, I came to the US as a grad student, and was shocked that the US has no running water in their toilets.
      They actually use pieces of paper!!!
      Thats soo lame, not to mention yucky!!! ughhh...

    10. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by neomunk · · Score: 1

      Awww hell, messed that up, try again. ...
      all your madir are belong to us ...
      Stupid rules of grammar flirting through my neurons, making me to things its way...

    11. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 0
      Maybe i'm being dense,but there's a fine line between humor and invective

      The raison d'etre for slashdot.in is sound.Most comments about India, on slashdot.org, are informative.But a significant number of comments suffer from an acute ignorance of indian ground realities on the part of the posters.This is to be expected.

      Therefore, slashdot.in could constructively complement the main site.It could provide a wider,more informed coverage of stories of interest to the growing community of indian technology professionals,sans the regular snide comments on outsourcing.

      Incidentally,the address,http://www.slashdot.in/ is currently registered with an Indian ISP.
    12. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You didn't just tell someone that if they want toilet paper then they need to stay the fuck out of India, did you? Because that's sure what it looks like to me.

      I'm an European and, just like the Indians I'm not using toilet paper either. I'm washing my ass with soap & water each time after defecating.

      What's your point ? You can use a newspaper instead of toilet paper, just like your grandparents were doing. If in India, you can probably even use an English-language newspaper, that will make you feel more homey.

    13. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      What's your point ? My point is that even if toilet paper isn't commonly provided in normal bathrooms in India, you can just buy some at a store that caters to ex-pats. Just like Indians in the USA can buy stuff that's not commonly available too.

      You don't have to get the fuck out of the country and framing the discussion in those terms is the real flamebait, not my pointing it out.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    14. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Therefore, slashdot.in could constructively complement the main site.It could provide a wider,more informed coverage of stories of interest to the growing community of indian technology professionals,sans the regular snide comments on outsourcing. Well, go ahead and segregate yourselves. Maybe that works in India. That's not the american way. We are loud, ugly and mean. But we say what we are thinking in public - putting all our cards on the table, free-speech and the whole bit, and that ultimately leads to working things out. That's the way the melting pot works.

      Going off to an indian-only slashdot enclave can let you pretend that people aren't bigots, but it does nothing to improve the situation. You'll have your own groups of troublemakers there too, just making trouble over other issues, and there will be less people to participate in the international dialog going on here.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    15. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by ghoul · · Score: 1

      Indians actually like being clean so they use water instead of paper which just smears it around without really cleaning. Still if you like paper you can get it in most supermarkets . It will probably be expensive as it does not sell much and there are no economies of scale

      --
      **Life is too short to be serious**
    16. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 1

      You are right in most details.But you did'nt get the point.

      slashdot.in does'nt have to be about "segregation".The idea is to increase the number of stories of relevance to indian professionals.Slashdot.org is a brilliant idea,that has proven its worth over the years.For me,it's success is all the more reason to go for a more india-centric sister site.

      And no,segregation does'nt work in India.Democracy ensures that it does'nt work.We may hate democracy for the periodic electoral fracas,and the inefficient decision making,but its the only way for a country as diverse as India.
    17. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Better to have a india subcategory then, as the same argument can be made for almost any 1st world or developing country.

      I vote for an icon depicting something from the kama sutra.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    18. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better to have a india subcategory then, as the same argument can be made for almost any 1st world or developing country. You argument does'nt hold.


      The SNR is much worse when it comes to stories concerning India.I saw this on comments on this story ,as well as the story on the Tata Nano that came out a while ago.The poor SNR has no parallel with "any 1st world or developing country.",except maybe china.


    19. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      You argument does'nt hold.

      The SNR is much worse when it comes to stories concerning India.
      I saw this on comments on this story... That's because you don't understand the argument.

      walk_the_talk just finished saying that SNR in the comments wasn't the problem: "The idea is to increase the number of stories of relevance to indian professionals"

      If you want to argue about SNR in the comments, then see this.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    20. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by dilipm · · Score: 1

      How Ridiculous! In India we dont use toilet paper, we are more cleanly than that. We use Water with is a better cleansing agent than a piece of paper! Having said that your sister must have travelled to remote nameless roadless villages because i live in the city of chennai. Any upscale hotel (that while people who travel stay, the 3 or 5 star ones) would have toilet paper with them. All of our offices have toilet papers in the restroom. My house has toilet papers in the restroom. So does many other people's homes eventhough we seldom use them. Its simply an aspect of understanding that if someone out of the country is visiting they be more comfortable. Expecting everything to be 100% as it is in america when you step out to a poverty ridden third world country like india or africa is madness. Your sister needs to be more mature than this.

    21. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 1

      Better to have a india subcategory then

      That does seem like an better idea overall.
      A separate section for India and China will make a whole lot of sense.


      Any ideas on how I might go about doing it?Do i have to wait for one of the mods to read this?

      The FAQ does'nt say anything about creating sections


      But this might be more reason to have a subsection rather than a separate site.

      As for the icon,i vote for the tiger :)

    22. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by freedom_india · · Score: 1

      India is NOT a poverty-ridden country like Ghana or Sudan.
      And third-world does not mean poor. It means non-aligned. During the soviet-coldwar-era, countries which aligned with US were called first world countries. Countries which aligned with USSR (Poland, Romania) were called Second world countries. Countries like India, Srilanka, which refused to align with any of them were called third-world countries.

      --
      "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
    23. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop feeding the trolls, mrn.

    24. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by dilipm · · Score: 1

      Mate, i live in india. While i agree with you that india is not broke ass like some of the african nations it certainly is not a developed or rich country and yes, we have poverty here everywhere! That is fact! Don't look at the cities and do your talking. Count the calories each indian induvidual gets compared to contries like malaysia, amercia, england etc., Your talking is as if india is fed on a silver spoon while its so not because i live here and i know it.

    25. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by immerrath · · Score: 1

      Well, we prefer to _clean_ our asses with water, as opposed to just smearing the poo a little bit.

    26. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I've got no idea at all how to convince slashdot to add a new category.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    27. Re:Wimax or infrastructure by asdfghjklqwertyuiop · · Score: 1

      soap and water on what?

  6. Maybe it's just the cold winter talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India.


    Me neither. Can you get cell service? None here, and I'm within 50 miles of Boston. And I bet my Social Security checks (when they start arriving next decade) will go farther in India than in the USofA.

    OTOH, is there any proof WiMax will scale up for that many users?

    1. Re:Maybe it's just the cold winter talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude.. they wipe their ass with their hands and they don't have steak.

          Not my idea of retirement...

  7. Can the promise be kept? by deepanjan_nag · · Score: 0

    I pay Rs1000 ($25) per month for 256kbps and unlimited downloads in Bangalore. While this doesn't qualify for broadband speeds by western standards, I'm one of the luckier ones to have a connection in the first place.

    Many of my acquantances have trouble getting a connection in Bangalore - India's IT capital. One friend got a connection exactly a year after applying for it. The ISP? Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, of course!

    While over-promising and under-delivering is a way of life in India, let's hope at least a fraction of the WiMAX promise is kept.

  8. Which three states? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhrapradesh? That would make sense. Infact Chennai-Bangalore-Hyderabad triangle alone would be worth it.

    But given the hype and meddling by politicians, they might be pouring money in Godforsaken places like the Bihar-Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan corridor.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Which three states? by oook_in · · Score: 4, Informative

      Looks like it's Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. This article also mentions that the roll out is supposed to happen by 2010. The weird thing is that the city of Mumbai in Maharashtra is serviced by another telecom company MTNL and not BSNL. I wonder if it will be covered by this WiMax network.

    2. Re:Which three states? by grepya · · Score: 1

      of course the usual south vs north India ugliness raises it's head on slashdot too. I see and hear a lot of this when in India.

    3. Re:Which three states? by dodobh · · Score: 1

      MTNL used to be separate, but they are now a part of BSNL.

      --
      I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
  9. But.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BTW, BSNL is "state-owned". So much for the free-market initiative.

    1. Re:But.... by ScorpFromHell · · Score: 1

      May be you are not aware of the realities out here. If it were only upto the free market, they would never go to the rural India, where India resides but not the money. There is no restriction on the free market to not implement WiMax but they aren't going to the rural areas even though they have started providing it in Bangalore & other urban areas.

      --
      -- Prem
      Aiming to tweet on a rice ... help me find the write pen!
    2. Re:But.... by mosb1000 · · Score: 1

      That's stupid. Just because they haven't built it yet doesn't mean they would never build it. You should always start with the area with the highest return first.

    3. Re:But.... by naren_pspl · · Score: 1

      There is nothing wrong in starting with metros and tier-2 cities. Just setting up WiMax in rural area is one thing, providing equipments and training to use the network is the most important thing. So, once the setup is successful in metro and you have good income from those cities, the telco can tie up with NGO and other agencies to spread awareness and provide required training in rural areas. The reason it will all soon come to rural areas is because of booming retail market in india esp. for farm products. Unless the retail biggies setup good supply chain with the rural india it won't be successful...and you would need the accessibility to the rural town/villages to make it happen.

  10. What free market? by slysithesuperspy · · Score: 1

    And where, pray tell, in your fairy tail world is a free market?

  11. Not the first one though by NakNomik · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The largest private company in India (Reliance) has soft-launched WiMax for consumers in some parts of Bangalore... and a quick search on Google reveals users are not very happy. SIFY, Aircel and VSNL already offer WiMax for corporate customers in some parts of the country..
    More here

    --
    Unix is simple. It just takes a genius to understand its simplicity. -Dennis Ritchie
    1. Re:Not the first one though by AndGodSed · · Score: 1

      The best wireless we get in RSA is 1.8mbps on 3g with a 1gb cap, and the best wired sevice is 4mbps adsl with a 4gb cap.

      sucks... no wimax...

      --

      Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity

    2. Re:Not the first one though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because ... like everything else in India, they've done a crappy job building it.

      Sorry to sound biased against the "fine folk" of India - but WiMAX is an excellent product when built properly. Like everything else (including software) it is possible to build something well ... or cheaply.

      Users of softlaunch WiMAX is the US are reporting very good results.

    3. Re:Not the first one though by Eternauta3k · · Score: 1

      I haven't read any WIMAX reviews, but usually all I hear about broadband providers, even in the US, are complaints.

      --
      Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
    4. Re:Not the first one though by mosb1000 · · Score: 1

      Well, I have Time Warner cable internet, I live in Southern California, and I have no complaints. It's screaming fast and it's never lost service (that I've noticed). So you can count me as a satisfied broadband customer.

    5. Re:Not the first one though by freedom_india · · Score: 1

      One satisfied broadband customer doesn't make a forest...
      The fact that you are satisfied means you are not utilizing it fully.

      Have you tried viewing more than one YouTube video at same time?
      Have you tried Windows Update while trying to download videos from iTunes at same time?
      Have you opened up 2-3 torrents uploading/downloading *linux* at same time?

      Better yet have you tried all of the above steps at same time?

      If not, then you have no right to be in this forum.

      --
      "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
  12. BSNL service. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have family in a relatively small city in India under the BSNL coverage. When I went there for summer vacation, I brought an ADSL modem for my brother-in-law in Hyderabad, but he could not get.

    Then at the smaller city, I saw they advertised for ADSL coming soon, so I went to inquire about it. They told me that they currently had zero customers, because they did not have any ADSL modems. When I told them we had one, they came the next day and installed - despite the latency to rest of the world, we can almost always pull the 2Mbit/s downstream with BT. However, if I didn't have any modem, I'd have to wait atleast 3 months until they had supplied major cities (which is probably never).

    If they're going to do WiMAX, then I hope they pre-order a lot of modems :-)

  13. 3G might be winning out rather than WiMax in India by ScorpFromHell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Computer penetration is not as good as mobiles in India. Also a 3g mobile is far cheaper (~ $200) than a computer (~ $300).

    The common man is more comfortable with using a mobile than a computer.

    If enough mobile apps are made available for most of the stuff that the common man requires it might be possible that 3g phones win over the wimax connected phones.

    In addition to the apps like feed readers, gmail, google maps, browsers, there need to be applications that can enable the common man to bank, pay bills, shop, get weather updates (atleast warnings), get various examination results (believe it or not, this is a big business for small time entrepreneurs in the rural districts), make bookings in trains, buses, etc.

    --
    -- Prem
    Aiming to tweet on a rice ... help me find the write pen!
  14. Moving to India (temporarily) by grepya · · Score: 1

    Seriously though, it's not a bad idea for a young person starting his/her career in the western world to spend some time in India right about now. It will be fun (for some values of "fun") and a great asset on your resume.

    1. Re:Moving to India (temporarily) by Adeptus_Luminati · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but get ready for a *massive* culture shock. When you arrive there, it's like you landed on a different planet or went back in time 100 years in the urban cities and 200-300 years in the villages.

      So... as they say here on slashdot: Goodluckwiththat!

      --
      No trees were killed in the making of this post; however, many trillions of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
    2. Re:Moving to India (temporarily) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On what basis do you make this comment?

    3. Re:Moving to India (temporarily) by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 1

      As an indian,i'd really like to know what exactly do you mean by a "*massive* culture shock"

    4. Re:Moving to India (temporarily) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As another Indian, I tell you our culture is way different from their culture. Within India it varies so much that for a person having average amount of workload it is near impossible to taste all the culture in India in his entire lifetime.

    5. Re:Moving to India (temporarily) by __walk_the_talk · · Score: 0

      I completely agree. But why does a change in culture need to be a "shock"?

      Which still does'nt explain why our cities are "100 years behind".100 years ago there were no telephones, or electricity ,in european and american cities.

      Sure,our roads are crowded and the infrastructure is bad.But can you seriously expect anything else when our population density is so many times theirs?

    6. Re:Moving to India (temporarily) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "100 years behind" means that we are not up to them in technology and the living conditions. You took the literal meaning of the term. We are catching fast. We still have a long way to go.

  15. Move to India :O by bingo_cannon · · Score: 1

    Maybe it's time to move to India. Don't you dare take your jobs back!

  16. India had wireless long ago ! by kicks-ass · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Russians dug 1000 ft in the ground and found copper wire, They declared Russians had electricity 1000 years back US dug and found Optical fibre, and said US had telepphone 2000 years back Indians dug, found nothing, Then said we had wireless communication technology 5000 years back

    1. Re:India had wireless long ago ! by Cosmic+AC · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      It is much easier to understand you when you use punctuation particularly periods so please use them if you do that you will be more likely to be modded up because people will have understood your joke thank you

    2. Re:India had wireless long ago ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This isn't any more off-topic than the GP joke, or any of the other hundreds of grammatical corrections made on slashdot that weren't modded off-topic. How the fuck are you supposed to understand what someone is saying when they use shit grammar? Fuck you, you idiot moderator.

  17. No Internet either by mi · · Score: 1

    Some things (like Internet) are more important than clean water.
    There is no Internet either. Even the stated goal:

    response to government requirement that 20 million broadband lines be in service by 2010." Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India.

    means far lower broadband penetration, than in the US (itself hardly a champion in this area). India has well over a billion people — more than three times America's population. Yet even its goal for 2 years from now is much lower, than what US had two years ago — even in absolute terms. Heck, India is not even on the chart!

    Everybody, who wants to move out of my country, please, do. Millions of appreciating would-be immigrants are eager to replace you. God bless their souls.

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  18. Broadband by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In India even speeds of 256Kbps are classified as "broadband". So don't start packing those bags yet.

    1. Re:Broadband by aolsheepdog · · Score: 1

      Or more accurately internet service that is "capable" of 256Kbps.

      My airtel 256Kbps service rarely provided more than 100Kbps. I upgraded to the 512Kbps and now I get between 200Kbps and 300Kbps depending on time of day.

      Yesterday - Republic Day - I was getting a whopping 50Kbps all day.

  19. Lobbyists Lobbyists Lobbyists by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Meanwhile companies back here in the US cry and sob that there are no ready-made senior-level employees for them to hire for rates far below the level that the self-created scarcity of such labor should command, since they shipped all the entry level positions overseas and can no longer find and promote their own talent from within.

    It's called "lobbying". The lobbyists paint a picture of poorly-educated Americans so that Congress etc. will let them offshore and get more visa workers who work more hours for less money. It's part of their plan and so far they are getting away with it because there is no coordinated counter-voice. Studies by respected organizations have repeated shown no general "sci/tech shortage". The bottom line: It's all a lie.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Lobbyists Lobbyists Lobbyists by FooAtWFU · · Score: 0

      The lobbyists paint a picture of poorly-educated Americans so that Congress etc. will let them offshore Hold on. Why should they need to ask Congress for permission anyway? Why can't they just hire whoever the heck feels like working for them? Why should they be forced to use American labor? Is there something inferior about Indians?

      Sounds like the American labor force has some pretty decent lobbying going on too.

      Besides, in the long run, if American firms can't hire Indian workers to do work for cheap, then Indian firms will hire Indian workers and compete with the American firms that way.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    2. Re:Lobbyists Lobbyists Lobbyists by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      So if we open up the borders and let anybody and their dog come in, what happens?

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    3. Re:Lobbyists Lobbyists Lobbyists by FooAtWFU · · Score: 1

      So if we open up the borders and let anybody and their dog come in, what happens? Places like Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Southern California near LA and San Diego have a bit of a hard time dealing with the population boom, especially as far as Schools are concerned. The Feds will probably bail them out. The wage for unskilled labor gets pushed down (good news for construction, bad news for construction workers... maybe LA can build a better transit system :P)... there's a small but significant rise in the number of doctors, scientists, and computer programmers - good news for tech/medicine companies, mediocre news for highly skilled technical workers, bad news for weakly-skilled technical workers. Some salaries may drop back down to just five figures again, instead of six. Between this and increased pressure on housing prices in the San Francisco / San Jose area, a few new mini-Silicon Valleys spring up where the cost of living is a lot lower. Places like the Research Triangle Park area in North Carolina boom. Poughkeepsie, NY really booms. (Look at the Indian population that's already there for places like IBM). There's another real estate bubble, because some people just never learn about risk (and because they can get other people, like the government, to eat the costs of their folly), but it's not nearly as big and as bad as the last one. Umm... I'm trying to think of anything else.

      Foreign Language becomes a useful skill again. The country gets more Multicultural.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    4. Re:Lobbyists Lobbyists Lobbyists by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      You haven't convinced me that this surge in population is a good thing for the US. Some people will do well and some will get trounced, and traffic etc. will get ugly.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    5. Re:Lobbyists Lobbyists Lobbyists by xrobertcmx · · Score: 1

      One of the main issues with the government needing to be asked is the simple fact that personal or confidential information is being provided to the offshore workers who are in a country that may not have the same laws that we do governing how this information is kept, how long it can be kept, what needs to be kept, and how the information needs to be handled. Now, I know for a certain fact that we have enough problems protecting it here, do I really want it being handled by a third party subcontractor working for a offshore contractor who may or may not provide an adequate level of protection?

  20. Netsukuku by ClioCJS · · Score: 1

    Sounds ideal for a large Netsukuku (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsukuku) deployment to me. P2p heaven! Power to the people.

    --
    -Clio
    Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
    Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
  21. whine over there instead of here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    move to india

  22. Maybe it's time to move to India. by falconwolf · · Score: 1

    I was thinking Brazil myself.

    I was thinking of Brazil myself. I'd like to go there for a year as part of a study abroad program.

    Falcon
    --
    Should there be a Law?
  23. Move to India? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While I applaud India for many things, and in fact, I like India, as someone who lived there for 3 years - i can tell you from personal experience that you don't wanna move there.

  24. While I don't think it's a bad thing... by doyoulikeworms · · Score: 1

    Providing broadband for millions of people in a country where tens (hundreds?) of millions more are in deep poverty is a modern-day version of "trickle down" economics.

    1. Re:While I don't think it's a bad thing... by FooAtWFU · · Score: 1

      Providing broadband for millions of people in a country where tens (hundreds?) of millions more are in deep poverty is a modern-day version of "trickle down" economics.

      Is there something wrong with providing said broadband? Should the existence of said poverty preclude the building of broadband? Does it add to the poverty? Must resources be diverted to the problem of such poverty before all else? Is this even possible? Would it be effective, if it was? If it is desirable, why not divert resources from elsewhere, like the United States? (Isn't that one thing that outsourcing accomplishes, to some extent?) If it is extremely desirable, why aren't you voluntarily diverting large(r) portions of your own income or wealth to said ends?

      Not that this is the end-all, be-all of progress, but...

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  25. viable solution by dotservant.com · · Score: 1

    I think it is much more viable to deploy wireless infrastructure instead of physical cables for covering such a wide geographical area.

    1. Re:viable solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As an added bonus, it is really easy to disrupt if we ever go to war with them.

  26. Commercial WiMax already deployed in Pakistan by tiemand2007 · · Score: 1

    One of the leading Telecom companies in Pakistan has already deployed commercial wimax in all major cities, covering near 50 million people. Apparently the project has led to a reduction of broadband prices all over Pakistan.

  27. Stupid question from a n00b for anyone out there. by The+Cydonian · · Score: 1

    What's the difference between HSDPA and WiMax? I already have a 1.5 MBPS HSDPA line for my mobile; what additional stuff would WiMax provide?

    Thanks!

    --
    More than mere navel gazing.
  28. Having been to Bangalore recently... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would rather they invest this money in sanitation and pepto-bismol dispensers at every hotel. ... just sayin'

  29. Re:3G might be winning out rather than WiMax in In by ap7 · · Score: 1

    Actually, it is WiMAX that is poised to make it big. Remember that with WiMAX being deployed, handsets capable of WiMAX will also make an appearance. And while computer penetration may be low in per capita terms, there are a huge number of people stuck with lousy broadband.

    I don't know how many of you will believe this but the standard speed for broadband was just 256 kbps until recently. It was kicked up to 2 mbps. But look at the download caps. For 6-7 dollars a month, you get 1 GB. For 12-13 dollars, 2.5 GB. 30 dollars a month gets you a supposedly unlimited connection that has a top speed of just 256 kbps. 30 dollars a month may not sound a lot in US terms but taking purchasing power parity into account, it is huge.