The DataOne broadband service is emerging as a headache for Calcutta Telephones, after the CellOne mobile phone.
The much-hyped Internet service, launched on January 14, is turning out to be a nightmare for subscribers. The chaos seemed to have peaked last week, with subscribers from across the city complaining of a system collapse.
?Since installation, I could at least log in after 50 attempts. But for the past few days, I could not access the Net at all,? said Santanu Dutta of Dum Dum. He had contacted the Dum Dum telephone exchange and was advised to replace the modem.
Although BSNL claims DataOne has bandwidths ranging from 256 kilobits per second (kbps) to two megabits, the actual speed is much less, say users. ?It is 100 kbps or even lower,? complained K. Mukherjee, a subscriber in south Calcutta.
?In most places, the broadband service is not working at all and the authorities are doing nothing about it,? alleged T.S. Srinivasan, secretary of Telephone Services Society.
The problems, according to him, were most noticeable over the past two months. ?There are no proper instructions for subscribers or user manuals. And to add to the confusion, the customer care services are not responding to queries.?
CalTel chief general manager S.K. Chakraborty denied comment, CalTel sources cited infrastructure problems as the cause of the subscribers? woes. In many cases, the modems are faulty and the service is operating on the same copper wires used for voice communication in B-phones. ?These factors are affecting the speed,? an official said.
Although officials had promised instant connection, subscribers are often being made to wait for three months. Sukumar Ranjan Roy, who applied in September, is yet to be provided with a login and password.
Officials stress the need for ?dedicated teams? for broadband at all 10 CalTel areas. ?Unless such teams are set up and manpower is increased, the problems will remain,? said an official at the Tiretta Bazar exchange.
Customers are also harassed over the price of the modem. Earlier, a modem was priced at Rs 2,000, but it was reduced to Rs 1,200. ?Still, customers get a bill for Rs 2,000 and they are being harassed when they apply for rectification,? alleged Srinivasan.
