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Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

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11–20 of 152 posts

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#11

From Steve Blank's recent blog post: [today’s theory is that] “massive capital infusion owns the entire market." This is yet another example. Question is: What strategies can competitors adopt when faced with a market participant like this?

The Indian telecom industry had another major shock back in 2009, when a new firm - DoCoMo - introduced a 'Per-second' billing.

Today, Tata DoCoMo barely exists. Some competitors introduced a similar version of billing, others just waited them out.

https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/biggest-in...

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#12
Jio's dominance has also forced broadband providers to up their game. Airtel used to dominate in my part of the city, offering mediocre speeds and expensive plans.

About 1.5 years ago, my broadband bill was about $30 at 16mbps capped at 80GB/month from Airtel.

Now Airtel is offering me 100mbps at ~$13 capped at 250GB/month

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#13
post #8

What a crap title and article, which spends half its time bootlicking Mukesh Ambani and how he's so rich, when the second paragraph says: > has shelled out $35 billion of the company’s money I'm also tired of all these publications that brainlessly give credit for achievements to the CEO like those that suck Elon Musk off for things his engineers have done. Not that I should expect anything better than a journal name…

Perhaps you have a valid point in there, but it's not ok to fulminate like this on HN, so can you please not? I feel like we asked you this many times before and then you fixed it, so it would be good not to backslide.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#14

Jio's dominance has also forced broadband providers to up their game. Airtel used to dominate in my part of the city, offering mediocre speeds and expensive plans. About 1.5 years ago, my broadband bill was about $30 at 16mbps capped at 80GB/month from Airtel. Now Airtel is offering me 100mbps at ~$13 capped at 250GB/month

+1

I'm paying $15/ month for 100mbps with FUP at 750GB/ month

https://www.actcorp.in/personal/fibernet/plans/hyderabad

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#15
As a US Citizen of Indian origin, I can confirm this. For the past couple of years, whenever I travel to India, I don't even feel a difference in terms of Internet access. JIO specially has been a game changer. Indian telecommunication system is one of the best in the world and I would argue it beats mature markets like USA with its size and coverage for 1.2 billion people. Long way to go with many other basic necessities but when it comes to Internet/Telecom, I am super impressed.

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#16
post #11

From Steve Blank's recent blog post: [today’s theory is that] “massive capital infusion owns the entire market." This is yet another example. Question is: What strategies can competitors adopt when faced with a market participant like this?

The Indian telecom industry had another major shock back in 2009, when a new firm - DoCoMo - introduced a 'Per-second' billing. Today, Tata DoCoMo barely exists. Some competitors introduced a similar version of billing, others just waited them out. https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/biggest-in...

Is DoCoMo still big in Japan? They've got an interesting history with various projects there. They were originally the ones who hosted the "mobile" side for Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal in Japan.

Connecting a Gameboy Color to a cellular phone and having it make HTTP-type requests to Nintendo servers for data, way back in 1999 or so

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#17
post #7

I'm on Jio and paying $5 for 84 days. I get 1. Free voice calls 2. 100 SMS/ day 3. 1.5GB High speed data/ day (20+ MBPS)- Post which unlimited @ 64 Kbps 4. Subscription to Jio apps like Music/ Movies/ News The page shows pricing at $5.7, everyone I know has always received a discount voucher for Rs 50. https://www.jio.com/en-in/4g-plans

Had to re-read to see 1.5 GB per day. Wow. I used to think we had it good in Austria (10GB for €10 per month). But that is fantastic.

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#18
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is because you’re using cloudflare DNS. Archive.is/fo/li blocks cloudflare DNS.

Do you know why that is?

Apparently because archive.is wants cloudflare to pass on (most of) your IP address to them for DNS resolution, and cloudflare won't play ball...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17743154

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#19
This highlights how far the US is lagging behind in terms of Internet access and cost. Paying 60$/month or more for mediocre speeds is common even in major urban areas, due to the lack of competition. I live in the heart of Boston and only have one ISP I can buy service from. And there is no mobile alternative that offers (truly) unlimited, fast, and affordable data.

Re: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet – One Billionaire Changed That

#20
India is quite well known for its price sensitive consumers. Jio has recognized and tackled that exceptionally well. Only today, on its 2nd anniversary, it announced even more free offers for its subscribers.

Full article here: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/teleco...

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