Which Internet Connection to Choose?

In all probability, your company started off with a dial-upInternet connection. This phase was largely due to euphoria attached with havingInternet access—the haves and have-nots. In India, Internet was and is stilllargely not seen as a business tool. However, with reduction in leased-linetariffs and birth of broadband access, businesses can and are seriously thinkingof using Internet in a more effective manner.

For constructive use of the Internet as a business tool,planning for an Internet connection becomes important. How much bandwidth doesthe company require? What is the objective of investing on the Internetinfrastructure? How does it relate to the company’s overall objectives?

First of all one must decide upon the benefits that areexpected from subscribing to an ISP. Though, Internet access is a lot aboutempowering the employees, if corporate objectives are not achieved from thefacility provided, why would a company spend substantial money on this facility?A shared Internet access is the norm for most companies. And the Internetconnection subscribed is dial-up and ISDN. Here, one is not really bothered withhow much bandwidth is being used. In this case, either the Internet access isrestricted to a few employees or most employees share a slow Internetconnection. And there is no electronic tracking of Internet usage habits. Trustis the only basis of providing the Internet access in spite of all the fears ofits misuse.

You must keep in mind some basic activities that employeeswill carry out through the Internet. Once these facts are on paper, you canproceed on to sizing the Internet bandwidth that will be sufficient for thecompany. Estimating the right bandwidth requirement is a critical activity. Eventoday the cost of bandwidth is very high. High-speed Internet links likeleased-line, DSL, cable Internet, satellite link, etc., are quite significantlypriced over PSTN dial-up links. One might go in for an E1 link and later realizethat the throughput is nowhere 2 Mbps. On the other hand, every time an employeedownloads a MP3 file, the 512-Kbps leased-line connection seems ordinary. Howmuch bandwidth is really required is a question that most IT managers try hardto come to terms with.

Certain steps need to be taken while making a choice of theInternet connection. Consulting peers among the industry does not harm you.Exchanging notes with the network managers of an associate company could giveyou some good insights. Though you could take the help of anintegrator/consultant, you can also insist the ISPs to advise you on this. TheISP would have been already involved in similar scenarios. Ask the ISP toprovide you business cases of earlier projects executed by it.

To lessen the probability of errors, the company can itselfinvest on an Application Performance Management (APM) tool like the ones fromTivoli or Optimal to try out the application’s effect on the network before itis deployed over it. APM tools analyze the traffic characteristics of theapplications and can project the performance of the Internet links that yournetworks subscribe to. Though there is an additional cost attached to thisoption, it is worth considering. The tool also comes to use in futureapplication deployment and upgradation of Internet link.

The next issue is that of scalability. If you want to upgradeyour link from 64 Kbps on twisted pair copper cables to 2 Mbps on fibre, itcould prove to be costly—both in terms of time delay as well as additionalexpenditure. In such a scenario, you could explore the possibility of leasing afibre cable even if you have to take a connection of lesser bandwidth. Withfibre connectivity, future scalability issue gets largely solved as far as themedia is concerned.

Many ISPs have been recently seen flaunting Internetconnections that bypass the DoT/MTNL local loop by offering alternativetechnologies. There is the cable Internet bandwagon, which promises high-speedbroadband Internet access through a co-axial link in place of the telephonecable. Some are providing DSL connectivity through copper wires. Yet others areproviding Internet links through a point-to-point microwave radio or through asatellite receiver. ISPs are even trying out stringing Ethernet/RF cables acrossbuildings and streets to provide Internet at Ethernet speeds.

So, how does one choose from these options and the onesavailable through ISPs tied up with DoT/MTNL? One needs to do a cost/performancecomparison of the various types of Internet connections before choosing theservices. Though DoT has been very inconsistent in providing reliable Internetconnections, even the competitors are still experimenting with varioustechnologies and are largely dependent on the government agencies for otherbackend resources. But the upcoming private international gateways and the basicservices/DLD buildup could make a lot of difference in the near future.

One question that most corporates ask about Indian ISPs isthat how does it matter since they all depend on the same unreliable links ofDoT? But with monopolies after monopolies being dismantled, the new Indian ISPsmight be in a position from where they can start providing reliablebusiness-class Internet services. The alternate technologies for last-mileaccess and private international gateways are indicators of the rapid change.