This is in response to a tender floated by VSNL earlier inviting proposals for private sector participation in building the e-commerce platform. According to senior VSNL officials, technical evaluation of the proposals are presently on. Feasibility studies will follow thereafter.

VSNL is in the process of putting in place a pilot project for e-commerce platform which should be up and running in three month's time, officials said. The platform will enable the company to offer on-line subscription to its internet service. E-commerce transactions involving corporates and consumers will be some time away in absence of cyberlaws in the country, said officials.

Speaking to The Financial Express, VSNL acting chairman and managing director Amitabh Kumar said that lack of cyberlaws is holding back thecompany's plans to go for a full-fledged e-commerce platform. "Cyberlaws are a must for purpose of authentication, resolving taxation issues and making the internet legally secure," he said.

Kumar is optimistic that by the time VSNL is ready with a full-fledged platform, cyberlaws will be put in place.

To begin with, selected private party involved with the pilot project will have to offer their services and solutions for developing the internet platform free of cost, said Kumar.

Earlier, addressing the Asia Pacific Telecommunity meet in the Capital, Kumar said that the dynamics of any e-commerce platform will hinge on the mix of physical and online delivery of goods and services.

Online delivery of Net services, digitised products and information is crucial to the success of any e-commerce platform, said Kumar.

The revenue source for such a platform will be customers, advertisers and commission. Web-hosting and designing, free e-mail, homepages, chat facilities, search engines and portals, singleand multi-company stores should be an integral part of any platform facilitating e-commerce, he said.

Worldwide, it has been observed that applications such as audio/software distribution, credit/debit cards, travel and tourism and e-shopping drive e-commerce, said Kumar.

Applications such as electronic stock trading, e-banking, e-shopping and e-warehousing are set to grow with establishment of the platform, he added.Officials said that VSNL's e-commerce platform will also work on similar lines.

VSNL is also looking at offering video-conferencing facility through the internet. However, absence of established industry standards in video conferencing is slowing down the process, said Kumar.