Many (unfairly) criticize the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) saying that they “exploit” students by providing services when the students use internet for online education. I have been teaching online for the last 8 months and I did a comparison of the two main ISPs (Dialog and Mobitel) that provide the widest mobile broadband services in Sri Lanka. This is what I found out. For 25 GB of Video Conferencing through Microsoft Teams and Zoom and unlimited YouTube, social media and instant messenger services monthly fee is 512 LKR for Dialog and 604 for Mobitel. (There are slight differences of the services they offer but these are more than enough for online education.) When considered the kind of money the students spend on traveling, snacks, make up, etc., for regular learning activities at private tuition classes, this cost is negligible. While a student or a few students in a family can get all these facilities for an insignificant amount of money, if they use small top ups or recharging cards, or go on data add-ons it is either their fault or ignorance. Telcos advertise these enough and at least the teachers should enlighten the students about these very cheap services. (There can be slight changes in the above prices and packages as I did the comparison some time ago.)
I have listed the two ISPs on alphabetical order. You can select the service based on your trust with them and their coverage capacities.
N. B. Please note that I am not addressing the coverage issues, etc. here as it is not my intention here. I only want to say that there are extremely cheap solutions that the students and their parents are not aware of. They just waste their money. TRC should make the masses aware of these options but I wont expect such a lethargic organization to do this as they have worse things to do.
DIALOG
1. Fun Blaster – Unlimited WhatsApp, YouTube & Facebook, only Rs. 347/=
2. Video Conferencing Plans – Office 365 (Microsoft Teams included) & Zoom (25 GB) Rs. 165 only
Total 347 + 165 = 512 Only Rs. 512/= per month WITH TAXES
MOBITEL
- Unlimited YouTube Rs. 275/=
- Unlimited WhatsApp, Viber, IMO Rs. 54/=
- Unlimited Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn Rs. 110/=
- Video Conferencing Plans – Office 365 – (Microsoft Teams Included) & Zoom (25 GB) Rs. 150 (With taxes Rs. 165)
Total 275 + 54 + 110 + 165 Only Rs. 604/= per month WITH TAXES
Nanda Wanninayaka 