Subject: India competition in Internet service provision. India competition in Internet service provision. This week, the Indian government released details of its policy for opening India up to competition in Internet service provision. Up until now, the government-owned ISP, VSNL, has had a total monopoly on Internet access provision and while charging considerably high prices provided notoriously slow connections. In addition one was required to buy up 500 hours of online time in advance. India's slow connection is largely attributed to the fact that VSNL sold more Internet connections than its network system could handle, with the result that constant traffic jams and huge delays in dial-ups became the norm. Downloading and connection speeds in India are famously slow, there are frequent breakdowns and few sessions last longer than 20 minutes. In Bangalore, the Indian equivalent of Silicon Valley, a user on an average modem could expect to spend up to half an hour each morning trying to connect and even after a substantial wait, connection was not guaranteed. It's expected that the opening up of the ISP market in India will facilitate a reformation of the Internet experience in India. With over one hundred companies waiting in the sidelines for licenses to open up services in India's myriad cities, it's also expected that the opening up of ISPs in regional areas will facilitate the huge growth expected in the online community. The Department of Telecommunications in India expect a substantial growth in the online community from 80,000 at the moment to 1.5 million within three years. The move to an unlimited number of ISPs is an initiative of the DoT who on recognising the importance of the Internet for economic development in India subsequently set about reversing "The Telegraph Act of 1885". The latter decreed that the delivery of all national communications would be under the control of the government only and over a hundred years later sanctioned the monopoly of the ISP market by the government owned VSNL. The policy document specifies that any number of ISPs will be invited to compete in the Indian ISP market. There will be no specification of prices rather market forces will dictate what subscribers pay for access. Those companies who have expressed interest in the Indian market include AT&T, Compuserve, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard India, GE Capital and Tata IBM Ltd.. Regards, Sorcha Ni hEilidhe Courtesy NUA Ireland ---------------- Also in this issue: - India competition in Internet service provision. This week, the Indian government released details of its policy for opening India up to competition in Internet service provision. Up until now, the government-owned ISP, VSNL, has had a total monopoly on Internet access provision and while charging considerably high prices provided notoriously slow connections. - Online resources come of age How's this for convenience? You can apply to a college, apply for financial aid, get your acceptance letter and your financial aid award notice, check the college catalog for courses, and sign up for classes - all without leaving your computer. - Ultimate Guide for Taking Control of the Internet If you want to make a difference in your hometown, you go to city council meetings, stand up at the microphone and speak your piece. You join groups that support your position. You identify the people who have power, then try to influence them. - Experts tell U.N. conference 'hate' sites on Internet may be here to stay Internet hate sites, such as one urging "Aryan brothers and sisters ... to combat racially inferior parasites," are unlikely to be stamped out because this would limit freedom of speech, experts said Tuesday. - Scottish link suit settled With a small island off the north coast of Scotland as a backdrop, two old friends turned enemies over Web site links have finally settled a long, drawn-out copyright lawsuit. - Net commerce sales boom Companies betting their futures on selling over the Internet saw sales jump more than 31 percent in their last quarters, according to recent quarterly earnings reports. - Web Currency Converters Catching On AS EUROPE CONTINUES TO WAIT for the introduction of the single currency that is supposed to simplify the continent's bewildering array of notes and coins, the Web's role in currency conversion continues to grow. - Browsers Mask a Bug in Feature's Clothing While Netscape and Microsoft play tit-for-tat, matching one intricate browser feature with the next, an age-old bug is beginning to beg some attention. - SURVEYS THIS WEEK: INTERNATIONAL : India announces its ISP privatization policy : Latin America Challenged by Poor Infrastructure : Limited Internet Access for Saudi Arabia : Internet Access in Vietnam will be expensive E-COMMERCE/ADVERTISING : Lack of understanding of the Internet Impedes Ad Spending : Data Mining Study forecasts gold rush : 17.3 percent growth for Internet-related services per year DEMOGRAPHICS : One million online in Brazil : Computer Industry in Singapore still confident : Middle East Internet Usage TECHNICAL : Cable Modems Will Beat Telecos for Residential Internet : Australia slow to take on technology : Computer Industry in Singapore still confident MISCELLANEOUS : Consumers prefer Conventional Mail : Intelliquest to form alliance with RelevantKnowledge : Top 25 websites for October announced : EMail Brings Families Closer : Remote Working in the UK - New Lists and Journals 1) The Wire provides online resources for communications and technology matters for the Church. Includes free clipart and articles relating to computing/reprographics/telephones/sound installations etc. 2) Quirk: A funky e-zine with atrue-to-life outlook on grrrly issues! For women and girls who like to interact. 3) Blather - a humorous weekly of Dogma Destruction, Forteana and High Weirdness, which looks at how our belief systems and reality tunnels influence our interpretations of the 'truth' presented to us by the popular, (and even not so popular) media. 4) itmWEB: Information Technology Report This free newsletter is electronically distributed to over 650 IT professionals worldwide (November 1997 issue). 5) U-Turn (Chicago): U-Turn Monograph Series and E-zine--focusing on photo, video, performance, and theory--is published by Jim Hugunin who teaches contemporary theory and photo history at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 6) Optics Letters Online: Now through the end of the year, OSA members may access Optics Letters Online free. ------------------------------- Excerpt from CSS Internet News (tm) ,-~~-.____ For subscription details email / | ' \ jwalker@networx.on.ca with ( ) 0 SUBINFO CSSINEWS in the \_/-, ,----' subject line. ==== // / \-'~; /~~~(O) "On the Internet no one / __/~| / | knows you're a dog" =( _____| (_________| -------------------------------