VSNL’s Gift To The Competition

In August, VSNL ISP subscribers got a mail from its acting director. As

always, it was via its helpdesk, to discourage feedback. (I wrote back, and got

a polite "your mail has been forwarded to our seniors". The seniors

did not reply.)

Summary: I could no longer use pkr@cmil.com

as my address. To continue using

VSNL Net access, I’d have to switch to pkr@vsnl.com. And when I stepped

outside my office, my mail would not go out any more unless I gave up my

cmil.com identity.

What did I do? I switched ISPs. And found better connects and features. Many

of the 100-odd roaming or home e-mail users in our company followed suit.

Now why would VSNL do such a thing? "To block spam." Good, I said

— but the flood of spam on my VSNL account continued. And I found I can easily

send mail using fake@vsnl.com or the like.

The more likely was that VSNL was trying to promote its commercial "Vmail"

service for businesses. In subsequent media statements VSNL’s director implied

that e-mail was a privilege, not a right; there was no reason to expect email

with Internet access, and so on.

Roaming users have anyway had a tough time with VSNL. My local connects when

traveling are erratic, with authentication failures with the home server in

Delhi. If I connect, I can’t send mail–VSNL Delhi refuses to relay mail from

another VSNL server! I have to know the names of local servers in Chennai or

Jaipur and make that change whenever I travel–or, dial long distance into

Delhi.

Most ISPs do not have this problem. If the city you’ve traveled to is

supported, so are your home settings. (ISPs do block third-party relay: you can’t

send mail through an ISP’s server if you haven’t dialed up through that ISP

itself.)

Of course, private ISPs do not have the reach of the VSNL-DoT network. Not

until they come up with a national roaming agreement a la the cellular network,

to take on VSNL.

VSNL’s latest "spam" step is an opportunity for private ISPs to

convert VSNL’s corporate individual users. With higher quality of service,

flexible email, multiple usage on a single billing account, and periodic bills.

And by using their own subscribers to spread the message.

These corporate individual accounts are important. They’re high usage, and

often get shared. Multiple users need only enough dial-in ports–not overheads

like billing or email accounts. And they’re an entry point for corporate

services that most ISPs are aiming for–from leased lines to specialized mail,

hosting, and more. If the ISPs move fast, they can collect on VSNL’s gift–and

VSNL could get a better preview of 2002, when it loses its long-distance voice

monopoly.