According to sources, the department had until now been waiting for a formal notification from the government before starting the process of issuing Internet licences to the private sector. It is understood that at present about 550 companies have already submitted their applications with the DoT to become Internet service providers (ISPs).

If the department starts the process of issuing Internet licences by August 10, industry observers believe that the first of the private ISPs will become operational by the end of the month. In fact, many prospective ISPs have already prepared detailed plans to start their services as soon as they secure a licence.

The government has, over the past few weeks, taken decisionsaimed at increasing the accessibility of Internet in the country. It has virtually decided to do away with licence fees for Internet services, given permission to ISPs to set up their own gateways and allowed the various software technology parks and the National Informatics Centre to be direct access providers for international connectivity.

As per the Internet policy announced by DoT in January this year, there will be no licence fee for Internet services for the first five years. The government has decided to charge a notional Re 1 per annum as licence fees after the initial five years are over.

In fact, the national task force on information technology constituted by the government had recommended a series of measures for the proliferation of Internet in the country. The task force had clearly identified Internet proliferation as one of the key steps for making India an IT superpower.

Of the recommendations, the task force had suggested that the ISPs be allowed to set up their own internationalgateways; usage of cable TV networks for providing Internet services and doing away with licence fees for ISPs which have all been accepted by the government.