Caltiger in a spot,chokes on free offer
Caltiger free Net plan draws rush
Rajorshi Biswas in Calcutta
Calcutta-based private Internet service provider (ISP), Caltiger.com, which declared free Internet services from March 19, is in a spot trying to grapple with the registration rush which followed the announcement. The rush has choked access to its website owing to its less-than-modest infrastructure.
The situation is similar to the one Calcutta witnessed after the city's cellular services providers declared incoming calls free in August last year. Few then were able to get calls through and even fewer are currently able to log into the www.caltiger.com site to download an installer software which will facilitate free net access.
This, ISP industry observers say, only reflects how distant the country's "fastest-growing ISP" is from its claims to provide a 1:6 port-to-subscriber ratio along with the hype of a "high-speed digital network surfing experience" which remains as elusive as the company's earlier claims of delivering Kentucky Fried Chicken products at the customers' doorsteps on order. Tricon Restaurants International, the worldwide operating division of KFC, has in a recent press release described Caltiger's claims to be "factually incorrect and baseless".
Caltiger's current port-to-subscriber ratio works out to 1:29 (that is one phone line per 29 subscribers) going by the company's claims of having a standing subscriber base of 14,000.
According to Calcutta Telephones, Caltiger currently has 16 E1-R2 connections from the DoT. Each E1 can handle up to 30 direct exchange lines (DELs). To match its claims, Caltiger needs the capacity to handle 2333 phones lines instead of the current 480.
"The situation has further been exacerbated by the fact that the Caltiger installer software is a 3 MB file which takes close to 20 minutes to download by those lucky ones who make it to the site," said senior Calcutta Telephones officials.
"There has been an overwhelming response and we are trying to upgrade our infrastructure to support it," said Chris Rebello, CEO, Caltiger.com. Rebello claimed Caltiger has 29, E1-R2 connections from the DoT. Calcutta Telephones officials, however, refuted the claim saying it has 16 E1s operational.
The process which works on a fifo (first-in-first-out) basis will keep most aspirants knocking on the site by those who log in first, said sources in Satyam Infoway, the rival private ISP.
The situation on the bandwidth front will improve marginally with the VSNL last Thursday clearing the work order for commissioning additional 2 mbps bandwidth to Caltiger. "Top VSNL sources in Calcutta described the bandwidth support of Caltiger as inadequate."
Caltiger so far had had only 2 mbps bandwidth in Calcutta from the VSNL. The situation will improve marginally with VSNL clearing a work order last Thursday for an additional 2 mbps bandwidth.
Chris Rebello, however, claimed the company was having 6 mbps bandwidth in Calcutta from non-VSNL sources. Caltiger has an understanding with Global Tele-Systems, the third private ISP provider in Calcutta with a national licence and a 2 mbps bandwidth. Global Tele provides ISP to corporates and is not in a position to provide its entire bandwidth to Caltiger.
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