Broadband? Not really

QUETTA: This is with reference to a massive advertising campaign by PTCL on the apparent upgrade of its much-hyped broadband service. My question is simple. The company has claimed that people can get ‘up to’ 8MBps in bandwidth for Rs6,999 every month. The operative phrase, however, is ‘up to’. For instance if two people purchase this then how is it 8 Mbps if one of them gets a speed of 3.1 Mbps and the other 2.2 MBps? Why is the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority silent in this clear violation of consumer’s rights?

How many of us would accept an unopened pack of corn flakes sold by weight at 350 grams but which contained only 290 grams or corn flakes? Or a box of eggs being sold to contain a dozen but having only nine? The point is that who is going to look out for the interests of consumers in this country.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2010.