State of Broadband Experience in India by @Ku1deep frm @CleverTap

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We have curated the conversations from Kuldeep Dhanker's series of tweets about the state of Broadband experience in India which we narrated based on his conversations from @dipeshudeshi.

Kuldeep Dhanker leads customer success and developer stuff at @CleverTap. CleverTap a mobile analytics and engagement platform that redefines personalization for your app. More info @ https://clevertap.com

image credit : CleverTap.com

ps: This content is curated by eChai team from public posts on social media platforms. In case if you have any queries, then email us at [email protected]

Kuldeep Dhanker's series of tweets about the state of broadband experience in India

1/ Ever felt that broadband experience in India is pretty much fucked. @dipeshudeshi schooled me on why. Tweetstorm incoming. :-)
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

2/ Most of you probably get your Broadband from the same person who provided you Cable TV earlier.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

3/ If not you are probably getting it from a Cable TV guy turned Broadband wallah. And these guys build their businesses on muscle.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

4/ They do not like competition. So if someone else lays a wire in their area. *Snip* your feet on street might roughed up etc etc.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

5/ So A large ISP might have a Class A license but last mile is good as closed to them unless they are on Wireless.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

6/ Large cos hate selling to home consumers and their service reflects that fact. Very little they can do to improve QoS
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

7/ Add to this the fact that most home users only want to pay about $10 p.m for broadband. An crazy low price.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

8/ Result is terrible quality broadband from large ISPs, data limited plans with low average speeds etc. Enter the local ISP Jugaad 😎
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

9/ Here is the recipe for how to service 5000 homes by being a local ISP with great speeds.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

10/ About 20% of all home Broadband traffic is bittorrent so you join something called intraoperator mesh. Keeps all traffic local.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

11/ Since all this BT traffic is local you don't have to pay for any of it. It is free and keeps your very users happy :-)
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

12/ Next fact is stunning. about 40% of all home local BB traffic is YOUTUBE. Go figure. Oh! YT requires crazy large amount of bandwidth.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

13/ Here is how google got to that share. All Google traffic is free to local ISPs if they just peer with google. UNCAPPED!!
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

14/ This is why you can stream a 18 Mbps 1080p60 stream on your local ISP connection without buffering. Fucking brilliant.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

15/ Upshot your uploads to google photos // google drive are also uncapped and very fast. Also LOL Net Neutrality.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

16/ That leaves 40% of the traffic from other sources. You gotta buy expensive leased extranet for that. So you buy the least you can.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

17/ So on a Sunday morning when 90% households are active, and Facebook auto-plays videos, you shutdown Facebook access :-)
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

18/ Also the reason why Vine plays better on your 3G then your WiFi network you are demand-throttled.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

19/ and YES! your https://t.co/EZHCCY45ce server is hosted very close to this network, so don't be responding with your results. don't count
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

20/ So how do you get good net neutral internet connection. Pay Tata/ reliance/ airtel for a leased line. don't expect YouTube though.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

21/ And yes! leased lines are VERY VERY Expensive. about 2.5k / Mbps.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep thank you for an in-depth post. Can you point me to the source of the facts that you have mentioned?
— Piyush Verma (@meson10) May 30, 2016

@meson10 most of this is from my conversations with @dipeshudeshi ; that man has forgotten more about the ISP business then I know.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep @dipeshudeshi I wonder if https://t.co/1yIdmcuvJf has some volkswagen plan for the ISPs.
— Piyush Verma (@meson10) May 30, 2016

@meson10 Lol not really. results are accurate but they display the size of pipe rather then the amount of water in the pipe @dipeshudeshi
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep @meson10 @dipeshudeshi most torrents are cached , and many ISPs in India have https://t.co/69UJXCXnsB
Try Speedtest to US server !
— Rakesh Waghela (@webiyo) May 30, 2016

@webiyo torbox :-) @meson10 @dipeshudeshi
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

22/ Oh I offer you this. Notice the 3 services that matter. YT, hotstar & torbox :-) #NetNeutrality pic.twitter.com/By267XeM92
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

23/ And yes! the same person who offers the local ISP peering with google also offers peering with hotstar as well.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

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Additional Conversations

@ku1deep True. I’ve noticed despite hitting FUP (2Mbps thereafter), my YouTube tends to stream just fine with reasonable quality.
— Rohan Naravane (@r0han) May 30, 2016

@ngkabra you may want to read this interesting tweet storm :) https://t.co/T1WfKZlNfe
— Shachin Bharadwaj (@shachinb) May 30, 2016

Whoa!!! I guess everyone should read this. https://t.co/alTuvSTopI
— Ankit Pandey (@AnkitPandey) May 30, 2016

Interesting tweetstorm from @ku1deep about why broadband in India is screwed (thanks @shachinb) https://t.co/dKJx6Oq6PO
— Navin Kabra (@ngkabra) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep rates vary .Hyderabad ftth available for rs1000 for 40Mbps bsnl while Mumbai cost is rs 4000 for same plan .
— Adwait (@Adwaittt) May 30, 2016

@Adwaittt wait I thought fibernet was way more expensive then that in HYD!!! and definitely not unlimited.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep upto 100GB .launched last week by bsnl .read on @TelecomTalk
— Adwait (@Adwaittt) May 30, 2016

@Adwaittt very cool. ofcourse 100 GB is nothing if you Youtube a lot. @TelecomTalk
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep what do you mean "just peer with Google"?
— Venkatesh Rao (@vgr) May 30, 2016

@vgr https://t.co/j0eHJTq9le essentially google let's you send and receive data from their cloud for free.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

Get some gyaan on how internet works in India from @ku1deep. Click on below tweet and read all parts. https://t.co/yfLzpiEojc
— Anand Jain (@helloanand) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep the user still pays for accessing Google sites, right, regardless of whether ISPs have peering with Google or not?
— Rohin Dharmakumar (@r0h1n) May 30, 2016

@r0h1n Yes! but with non-peered ISP you get what you pay for. :-D second class treatment for second class rates.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@r0h1n Oh BTW the new thing among local ISPs : you can try then unlimited for free: 512 kbps; unlimited torrent and YouTube.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

Whoa. Read this. https://t.co/y6oYjk387y
— Rajkiran (@saantoryuu) May 30, 2016

Insightful thread by @ku1deep on ISP in India! Didn't know bit torrent and YT is cached https://t.co/my2MmPLTlr
— Varun Goel (@goelv) May 30, 2016

Such a sad story. Even internet is rationed. https://t.co/SHmdwvWcLD
— Pareen Lathia (@PareenL) May 30, 2016

OMG... This sums up my experience with Indian ISPs for last 2 years.. Nailed it. Read the whole tweetstorm. https://t.co/17SHdj96NM
— Pratik Patel (@pratikpatel) May 30, 2016

Some awesome ISP gyaan. Don't assume there is much left in this world that is not rigged! https://t.co/8nA5wrfQoP
— Maxim Saini (@MaximSaini) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep Good series of tweets. Kinda figured out most of that when I was replacing my MTNL connection. Got a local cable guy.
— prolificd (@prolificd) May 30, 2016

@meson10 @ku1deep @dipeshudeshi choose a server in SG or US and see what result it shows. Or use https://t.co/5rwawVkX1G
— prolificd (@prolificd) May 30, 2016

@webiyo @ku1deep @meson10 @dipeshudeshi prioritise traffic to speed test end points and you can fake speed test results too
— francispereira (@francispereira) May 30, 2016

Must read thread. Opens lines for further reading. https://t.co/UZLOeijvq9
— Kanica (@KanicaWithC) May 30, 2016

On Indian ISPs - Confirms what I heard. Do read https://t.co/ViottRCfjM
— Abhinav M. (@maskeggeR) May 30, 2016

@MaximSaini won't call it rigged as much as an adaptation. Also I admire Google's growth hack. much better then FreeBasics no :-)
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep not sure fb would benefit as much from fast lane as youtube would. Perhaps peering causes bigger ux difference to vid streaming.
— Maxim Saini (@MaximSaini) May 30, 2016

Super thread this to understand why your torrents download fast and rest sites are slow https://t.co/paMrkpq92e
— Mayur Khandelwal (@Mayur_Kh) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep how does local ISP connect with Google data centers? Does Google have DCs in India?
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@daamitt no only edge PoPs in Mumbai and Chennai. here >> https://t.co/CbGOfM7nzo
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep ah, so local ISP connect to local PoP and Google pays for international transit / sea cables?
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@daamitt from google's PoV there are offering access to their networks without an access fee.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep right. How far is FB along this path in India?
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@daamitt can't happen. FB too new and accounts for far too little content. Youtube is the lever that moved this mountain.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@daamitt for peering you need some sort of equitable relationship. ISP brings audience Goog brings what the audience wants.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@daamitt it is worth google's time to make video delivery worth ISPs time. otherwise the unit economics of video ads won't work for India.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@daamitt don't see how this works for FB. Besides small ISPs hate FB for autoplaying videos choking their pipes.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep so for FB videos they could do some peering interconnect and then ISPs will connect?
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep guessing your point about economics comes into play here. So until FB figures video ads...
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@daamitt yup. the point is that entering india is going to be super difficult for any other video svc since Youtube is essentially toll-free
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep but as things shift to mobile (if not already) - top 5 telcos easy to do FB peering deals with?
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@daamitt Oh the top 5 don't mind FB. They charge for every kb of that traffic :-D more the merrier.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep so, fair to say that Google's advantage nullified on mobile networks?
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@daamitt yes and now you have a new perspective on free basics :)
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep 👌
— Amit Bhor (@daamitt) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep or just signup with Nixi they have also peered with Google!
— #Yogi Azad (@yedayogi) May 30, 2016

@yedayogi yeah but nixi is not cheap.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

Very interesting tweetstorm https://t.co/aqr6hHSm0o
— Rishi Seth (@sethrishi) May 30, 2016

.@helloanand We've curated the @ku1deep tweets abt state of broadband experience in India @ https://t.co/YCLNxB7zO5 Thanks for updates :-)
— eChai Ventures (@eChaiVentures) May 30, 2016

Read the whole tweet thread, very illuminating :) https://t.co/BbdrRs5CYW
— Anandamoy Roy (@smdcmc) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep Great points!
— Sudhan Deo (@TomR1ddle) May 30, 2016

Interesting state of ISPs & net neutrality in India.Seamless YT streaming last month whn I was in IND nw makes sense https://t.co/2sKQD5s7BH
— Balaji Athreya (@athreya86) May 30, 2016

This and the following tweets are a good wakeup on Internet infra in India. https://t.co/O1k8zbnB0D
— Lakshay Pandey (@lakshaypandey) May 30, 2016

Fantastic thread on how ISPs work in India. (also points to why net neutrality is a farce) H/T to @KanicaWithC https://t.co/hnFVZyJY3S
— thewisecrab (@thewisecrab) May 30, 2016

Brilliant thread! This is true for the most reasons. https://t.co/CcEEolDFkR
— Suresh (@srtxt7) May 30, 2016

Excellent😘👌 Thread
Deep Crisp Analysis https://t.co/OP4453Na93
— $UJIT♠♠♠ (@sujitk96) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep so if mobile cos hv to pay fr everybit of data, how come reliance jio will be profitable??or is it a marketing gimmick??
— Sayantan Paul (@raymagini665872) May 30, 2016

Want to know the reality of home broadband in India? Read this thread https://t.co/TGl7dn0LB0
— Kanchan Kumar (@kanchankumar) May 30, 2016

Great thread! https://t.co/5yfw5XdOns
— Арман (@ArmanChandok) May 30, 2016

@raymagini665872 profitability is a direct function of size of network. do you believe jio will have a huge network? that is your answer.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@MaximSaini ofcourse. But look at the amount of effort google had to put in to ensure success. and in video UX peering is all that matters.
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@thewisecrab this thread is so relevant. My net is down right now but YouTube is still working. 😂😂😂 @KanicaWithC @ku1deep @dipeshudeshi
— That Goan Boy (@schmmuck) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep Same with dvois and Joistar in Navi Mumbai. Streaming is so much fun. Net Neutrality lulz
— Zeeshan Mhaskar (@MhaskarChief) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep WHAT EEZ DIS
— Sahil Khan (@sahilk) May 30, 2016

@sahilk this my friend is how you stream pirated Blu ray quality content to your shiny new UHD screen :-) among other things
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@kanchankumar @ku1deep @dipeshudeshi local guys basically use torrent cache and heavy peering with YouTube and Akamai.
— Deep Ganatra (@DeepXP) May 30, 2016

@kanchankumar @ku1deep @dipeshudeshi my 100 Mbps connection is actually 8 Mbps one.
— Deep Ganatra (@DeepXP) May 30, 2016

@DeepXP yup! lower or higher depending on how many local users are contending for the extranet bandwidth. @kanchankumar @dipeshudeshi
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep I've gotten to become very skeptical with these local guys. Prefer paying more for Airtel. At least reliable.
— Sahil Khan (@sahilk) May 30, 2016

@sahilk pick the right one and you will be in heaven :-)
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 30, 2016

@ku1deep Food heaven is enough for me.
— Sahil Khan (@sahilk) May 30, 2016

Net has never been neutral in India. https://t.co/erfk7XRyPJ
— Siva Narayanan (@K2_181) May 31, 2016

This is sad! go though the whole thread. :( Net Neutrality https://t.co/pqJeyUFeGF
— Ravi Vyas (@ravivyas84) May 31, 2016

Brilliant read. TFS @ku1deep https://t.co/04dORpPHfu
— Ankit Saxena (@ankitsaxena21) May 31, 2016

Must read tweets if you want to understand the bandwidth circus. https://t.co/TxJJj1eM0M
— Ujjwal (@dillisingh) May 31, 2016

@ku1deep Thank you for the thread. Opens up so much reading. Sigh! @schmmuck @thewisecrab @dipeshudeshi
— Kanica (@KanicaWithC) May 31, 2016

Read these tweets abt the sham called cable Internet & last mile connectivity. Also, a new net neutrality offender- https://t.co/gUopfEg4uK
— That Goan Boy (@schmmuck) May 31, 2016

@ku1deep They are based out of Delhi. In Lajpat, their internet barely works. Almost all their clients are unhappy because of sad service
— Ravinshu Saneja (@Ravinshu) May 31, 2016

Quite an interesting thread on broadband connectivity https://t.co/5NCCtKUGgr
— Rain Man (@Manishjoshi26) May 31, 2016

@Ravinshu hmm what part is bad, reliability or speed
— Kuldeep (@ku1deep) May 31, 2016

Eye opening thread on why broadband internet is terrible in India. https://t.co/H7a8SQ8a9D
— Martin A. K. (@crazytwism) May 31, 2016

This tweetchain is awesome. https://t.co/lL5gnyICLI
— विमुक्त आत्मा (@vimuktaatma) May 31, 2016

I always use speedtest on faraway servers in cities like La Paz or Wichita or Oslo. https://t.co/bjqMm3rxac
— विमुक्त आत्मा (@vimuktaatma) May 31, 2016

Must read this thread. Also LOL net neutrality! https://t.co/nRAFJ2Tg8T
— Shrikant Mudliar (@Shreedinger) May 31, 2016

No matter what u pay for broadband...u get shit! https://t.co/RbTP5klqxI
— Chirag Galundia (@chirag1774) May 31, 2016

@ngkabra @ku1deep @shachinb @dipeshudeshi As a user of two BB services, the local one & from BSNL, this is 100% true & somehow unfortunate.
— Vishwajeet Vatharkar (@vishwajeetv) May 31, 2016

This tweetstorm accurately presents current state of broadband services in India. @rohitkhirapate https://t.co/lVDHb8ck6X
— Vishwajeet Vatharkar (@vishwajeetv) May 31, 2016

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Kuldeep Dhanker's series of tweets about the state of broadband experience in India

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