MUMBAI, JAN 7: Gateway access and internet service provider Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Friday announced steep price cuts for its international private leased line, dial-up internet, ISDN, and web-hosting services. The biggest drop was in web-hosting charges at a massive 90 per cent. The new tariffs will take effect from January 15, 2000, after approval by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, VSNL said in a statement.International private leased line charges have come down by 25% for regular leased line customers and 50% for ISPs. The discount will be available for both satellite as well as fibre connectivity. Dial-up internet tariffs have been reduced further and mailbox capacity has been increased from 2 MB to 5 MB. With this the difference between a concessional student account and regular account has narrowed down to Rs 500 for a 100 hour account (see table for new dial-up and ISDN rates). The duration of all accounts, except students, has also been increased from one year to three years.The dropin web-hosting charges will give a boost to hosting of websites and Indian content on the internet, VSNL said. So far, companies here have been hosting content in servers based in the Unites States because of the exhorbitant rates charged by VSNL.Around six months back VSNL Director (operations) Amitabh Kumar had announced plans to start server farms at locations across the country and bring down hosting rates on par with those in the US. As per the new co-location charges, VSNL will now charge Rs 2 lakh for 10 gigabyte per month with an incremental data transfer charges of Rs 2000 per month.
