Tags:
Journalism of Courage
On the current methods of e-mailing:
Right now, if one wishes to send or receive e-mail, one either needs to have the infrastructure at home, or go to a cybercafe. The latter has specific charges depending on the time used on the net. If one wishes to e-mail from home, then one has to subscribe for an internet account from VSNL or any other Internet Service Provider. For this, the charges are generally Rs. 3,000 onwards for 100 hours of usage or one year 8211; whichever is earlier. And what is needed is a computer, a modem and a telephone line.
On the new kind of service provided by his concern:
Ours is an exclusive e-mail service; currently, we do not have provision for using the internet. The unique feature about our service is that one need not have an internet account to send or receive mails. Nor does the person have to incur recurring charges for using it. He pays only a one-time set-up charge of Rs. 300. Once this is done, his e-mail service is ready for use.
However, this does mean a compromise on quality; we manage our costs through sponsors.
On the infrastructure needed by such a subscriber:
What is needed is a computer with Windows 95/98, a telephone line and a modem installed at his end. In fact, on any computer where the internet is installed, we can set up our account without disturbing any internet settings, so that a user can use his account for surfing and our account for e-mail, which can save time on the net.
The cost is where the difference lies, and there is quite a margin. While other service providers charge a combination of registration, usage and connect time rates, here, he is required to pay only one initial amount.
On how this idea germinated:
Having already ventured onto the information highway, providing web solutions to different institutions, what we found was that several companies were charging exorbitant rates to provide these services. Information, something that must be free and easily available so that its potential can be harnessed, was eventually proving to be expensive for the ultimate customer.
In fact, all over the world, e-mail cost is zero, and we wanted to bring the same facility to the Indian customer. That set us off, and we worked on the project for more than six months, getting our own web server commissioned, effecting an American collaboration, and finally launched the service last month in Pune.
Currently, we have 150 subscribers with us. Since we do not provide internet surfing, we cannot be called an ISP. However, we expect to launch that by next year.
On the other services available to the subscriber:
As the subscriber writes his e-mail, he also can check out the scene on health information, appointments, fashion, matrimonials, eating places, home decor and education. There is also a helpline service and the yellow pages. All this is local information, which any Puneite can have at the click of a mouse.
