VSNL plans JV for cable internet

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 4: State-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited VSNL is exploring the option of entering into a joint venture for providing...

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 4: State-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited VSNL is exploring the option of entering into a joint venture for providing cable internet service. quot;We are looking at three models for cable internet: providing only bandwidth, revenue sharing and a joint venture. We have not yet decided which model to follow,quot; Amitabh Kumar, director operations, VSNL, told reporters at the Nasscom 2000 event on Friday.

However, he added that it might be involved indirectly if the ISP chose to buy capacity from VSNL and sell it for free relying on advertisements for revenue. VSNL8217;s internet subscriber base is expected to touch 4 lakh by March.

The ISP is spending Rs 32 crore on building a high capacity internet exchange with 10 to 12 nodes. The project is already underway and Rs 10 crore has been invested so far.

VSNL, which is the major bandwidth provider for all ISPs, is also planning to enhance its existing capacity by 330 Mbps by March. quot;We don8217;t forsee any major threat in the near term,quot; Kumar said about private players setting their own gateways.

Earlier, addressing the gathering on distance education, Carnegie Mellon University professor CMU and co-chair of Clinton8217;s IT Task Force, Raj Reddy, said the IT revolution had the potential to democratise knowledge. For instance, the budget of all the libraries in India, combined, amounted to the annual budget of Harvard University. This disparity could be ironed out with the help of computers.

Today8217;s computers, which shipped with over 1 GB of memory, were capable of storing over 3,000 books. When computers start shipping with terrabytes memory each terrabyte would be capable of storing 3 million books, 30,000 hours of music or 300 videos of two hours each, Reddy said.

Reddy asked the IT industry do develop Indian language speech recognition software which could be used to teach illiterate adults and also English as a second a language. quot;Microsoft will not build Indian language speech recognisers for a long time,quot; he said. All speech recognition software developed by CMU is open source and can be used by Indian developers, he added.

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The universal library ul.cs.cmu.edu initiative of CMU was making all published works available on the web so they could accessed by anybody, anywhere, anytime. The contents of the library include books, newspapers from different continents, music and video. Apart from the electronic library, CMU has worked on electronic lectures and electronic labs. quot;IT has the power to transform education,quot; Reddy asserted, urging developers to undertake initiatives in the area of global multi-lingual e-commerce.