Mumbai, Jan 8: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has granted an Internet service provider (ISP) licence to the Hinduja group's cable network, IN Network, for providing Internet access to subscribers over its cable TV network in Mumbai and Delhi. At present, the network has over 2.3 million subscribers in the country, of which one million are in Mumbai and four lakh in Delhi. IN Network operates its own network in nine cities and operates through franchisees in another 22 cities.Sources said IN Network has already tested point to point Internet services to a few of its subscribers, by providing the access offline--by downloading a few web pages on its host computer and offering it to the subscribers. These tests have proved to be successful.
The launch of IN Newtwork's Net service would lead to an increase in the number of people connected to the Net as it will eliminate the need to have a PC to surf. According to analysts, it will also mean a substantial reduction in costs for people wanting toget connected to the Internet.
To surf the Net, subscribers need not have a PC or a telephone. All that is required is a set top box with the TV set. Subscribers having a telephone and a PC can dial into the network using their phones and use the cable for downloading, thus achieving a faster downloading speed of up to 4 mbps.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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