Perhaps, the most pertinent question being thrown and asked all over the place is whether there is enough room for everybody.

Rajiv Arora, chairman of the Internet Services Providers Association of India (ISPAI) says that the "ISP movement in India is just taking shape." But, he argues, there is a long way to go before the sector operates at optimum levels.

The reason, he points out, is the "lack of a level playing field." Government organisations like DoT, MTNL and VSNL, he says, ought to stick to their `core competencies' - essentially, the business of providing infrastructure to ISPs.

"If customers can have a choice in terms of which ISP to turn to, then service providers should have the same kind of choice," he says.

Arora says that given the way things are right now, choices are far too few. For instance, if ISPs are to interconnect, the law demands they pay a licence fee of Rs 15 lakh per connection. "What kind of logic is this?" he asks.

The argument being that the Internet is basically a network and the primary reason for its existence is connectivity. If that is stifled, the chances that any tangible growth can be seen are negligible. Arora was in agreement with the fact that the kind of services provided by private ISPs are not quite up to the mark. "But that," he said, "is because there are systemic deficiencies."

His bone of contention is that when an ISP is not allowed to manage its own bandwidth, it cannot provide customers with a satisfactory experience.

Regarding recent changes which allow private ISPs to set up their own gateways, he said, "It's like asking each airline operating out of the country to build their own airports."

Instead, Arora says, exclusive gateway service providers should be allowed to operate in the country. "Why shouldn't gateway service providers compete with each other?" he added.

"In the final reckoning, what is convergence in India," he continued. "Setting up another ministry perhaps. That's convergence in thecountry."