Sneaky Internet Service Providers

The contract I have with my current Internet Service Provider (ISP) will end on the 28th of this month. I have been shopping around for a new plan to sign up since this post. This endeavor made me realize a few things.

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When I spoke to the counter staff of the various ISPs, I would ask them the same run-of-the-mill questions like monthly cost, download (d/l) and upload (u/l) speeds and perks that their ISP gives. I would also throw in one other question and here is where things start to get interesting.

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I would ask "If I sign up for this 10Mbps plan, what are the factor(s) that would stop me from getting that optimum speed?"

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Some of them started using technical terms and what not in an attempt to explain, but they did not know that I'm an engineering graduate, and from those experiences, I can conclude that most of whom I spoke to did not even comprehend the rubbish that they were sputing from their mouths. It was as if they were all trained by the same person, because all their explanations were strikingly similar - either irrelevent or bullshit. I saw an article in the papers today. Interesting.

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[I REFER to Mr Alfred Siew's article 'Slow surfing speed? Blame foreign websites' (ST, Nov 3). Mr Siew's analogy of broadband access in Singapore being similar to a racing car being driven slowly on a narrow road is correct. Indeed, local Internet Service Providers (ISP) are offering subscribers faster broadband plans that rival those in many developed countries. Unfortunately, Mr Siew fails to point out that ISPs are not only responsible for providing subscribers with fast cars (i.e. high broadband speeds). They must provide wide and uncongested roads too (i.e. high bandwidth links to local and overseas websites). Broadband subscribers in Singapore are getting a raw deal. They have to tolerate high latency local backbone connections that make for unsatisfactory online gaming, and low bandwidth connections to foreign websites that don't throttle access speeds. Broadband access in Singapore is essentially similar to a Ferrari trying to speed in a multi-storey car park. And when it comes to international connectivity, the Ferrari has to jostle with Porsches and BMWs on a winding one-lane street to get from the suburbs (Singapore) to the city (United States). ISPs are now charging businesses between $100 and $200 for each megabit/sec they use on their networks. Hence, subscribers should realise that something is amiss when they are asked to pay the same price but are promised 10 to 30 times the bandwidth. ISPs are obviously not able to deliver on their empty promises.] - Christopher Lesdesma Choo Weisen

- [ The Straits Times FORUM, 'ISPs should provide fast broadband access', 9 November 2006, Page H9]

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So then, my question is this. Why would I want to pay for the most costly plan when the indicated speed would ultimately be compromised? (See Above Article) What is the point of doing so many trials that promise to deliver faster and faster neck-breaking speeds when the outcome would be the same - a compromised, diminished result? Makes you think doesn't it. Using the same analogy from the above article, it is like a person who upgrades his car from a toyota to a ferrari and then to a F1 Racer but the conditions of all the roads would only allow the driver to drive at a maximum speed of 60km/h. If that be the case, why upgrade?

Makes one think doesn't it?