Indian States Sign Up To WorldTel's Infrastructure Plan

["Irfan Khan" <KhanIA@super.net.pk>]

Indian States Sign Up To WorldTel's Infrastructure Plan 

By Uday Lal Pai
InternetNews India Correspondent 

[July 22, 1999--MUMBAI] Major Indian states are partnering with 
WorldTel, the United Kingdom-based telecom giant, to set up Internet 
infrastructure facilities. 

Once the proposal takes off, cyber community centers will mushroom in 
thousands just like public call offices in the country. 
WorldTel has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with four 
southern states to provide Internet services. In fact, WorldTel has 
been invited by major southern state Tamil Nadu to take a 74 percent 
stake in its joint venture project with Electronic Corporation of 
Tamil Nadu (Elcot). The project envisages setting up state-wide 
internet community centers. 

According to the chief minister of the state, M Karunanidhi : "This 
is a major step towards mass application of information technology 
and is an initiative to take Tamil Nadu into the 21st century." The 
centers would provide affordable access to information and 
communication facilities. "We will be networking hundreds of villages 
and towns in Tamil Nadu with each other and the rest of the world" 
Karunanidhi said. 

WorldTel also plans to take part in the development of a broadband 
digital highway in Andhra Pradesh, the Cyber-state of India. 
North-West Indian states like Gujarat also joined hand with WorldTel 
for setting up Internet infrastructure facilities. Couple of months 
back, WorldTel entered into a $100 million joint venture with the 
Gujarat state government for setting up comprehensive information 
communication network. 

The state of Maharashtra, the commercial nerve central of India, may 
join hands with WorldTel soon. "The $100-million project, which would 
provide Internet backbone for local language and content, was 
proposed at a meeting with the state chief minister and other top 
officials" said Sam Pitroda, the CEO and Chairman of WorldTel. 
Meanwhile, WorldTel is all set to usher in Internet boom in eastern 
regions too. It hopes to put in place a comprehensive network of 
Internet community centers (ICOs) across West Bengal. Initially, 
WorldTel proposes a minimums 500 such access centers throughout the 
state, initial investments are being envisaged in the region of $60-
70 million. 

WorldTel plans to float an independent company in the state for 
triggering the much-anticipated Internet boom in the region. It is 
likely to hold a majority stake in the proposed company, sources 
said. 

Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have also evinced interest in 
WorldTel's concept of community centers. The investment in each state 
would be $50-100 millions spread over a three-year period. 
Community centers will essentially be a public access center given on 
franchise. Each center will have two to 20 personal computers and 
will offer business services like fax, PCO, photocopying, email and e-
commerce. 

Explaining the concept of community Internet centers, Sam Pitroda 
said that the "American on-line model" wherein individuals owned PCs 
and had dedicated lines was not suited for developing countries. 
However, with Internet fast becoming "a basic service", it was 
important to create a model that factored in local considerations. 
"The concept of Internet community center is quite simple. People 
would have access to the centers where community services would be 
offered at prices lower than the plush cyber cafes" pointed out 
Pitroda. 

His dream mission is to clip together the rural grass-roots with 
fiber optic cables and facilitate the establishment of Internet 
community centers to help people access information at their 
doorsteps. In short, he wants to make wired villages a reality in 
India. 

http://asia.internet.com/1999/7/2202-india.html