National Hub to Make India an Internet Superpower
Today India announced the existence of a national internet hub that will connect all service providers and boost web traffic in the country.
This is a much-needed move for a country that relies on the integrity of its telecom infrastructure to stay ahead in the global jobs market.
Until now, domestic internet service providers have been forced to rely on international traffic routing providers to run their websites.
Information and Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the policy would help to "proliferate the internet" as domestic service providers will be able to reduce the cost of traffic routing and improve service for subscribers.
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The government also simplified rules for registering domain names in India to enable them to hook up to the nationwide internet exchange. From next January, firms will be able to get .IN (for India) domain names online and complete the registration process in less than 24 hours.
Just 7,000 domestic firms have registered domain names in India, although there are tens of thousands of websites run by Indian companies and groups.
[Information and Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran] said the national internet exchange would help increase internet speed and lower tariffs as much internet traffic could now be generated inside India.
Industry service providers hailed the move as a boost for the business now reviving after thousands of e-commerce and other dotcom ventures folded due to high costs and poor demand.
"It's high time India became an internet superpower," said Amitabh Singha, president of the internet Service Providers Association.
"The policy will definitely give a boost. If you don't have a robust internet infrastructure, it can doom any country's future," Mr Singha said.
India's population is over 1 billion. The country has around 25-30 million internet subscribers, but the government is hoping to boost the number to 40 million by 2010.
CNN predicts that there will be around 25 Million Internet users in India by 2005. IDC India goes on to predict a growth of 37.5 million by the end of 2005.
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