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Technology Stocks : Satyam Infoway Ltd-(Nasdaq:SIFY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (827)	2/23/2000 2:27:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1471

India to Have 2nd Highest Net Users in Asia by 2004, Study Says 2/22/00 9:12:00 PM Source: Bloomberg News New Delhi, Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- India will have more Internet users by 2004 than any other Asian country except China if prices of computers drop and Internet access via cable television becomes possible, said Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia. Internet use in the country will expand at the fastest pace in Asia, boosting the number of people on-line by eleven-fold to 30 million by 2004, second only to China, according to a study by Credit Lyonnais. 'A likely 15 percent to 30 percent annual fall in PC prices, declining access rates, accessing the net through cable TV, and alternate access channels like cyber cafes will be the key drivers for a boom in Internet usage in India,' the report said. Indian companies are increasingly setting up, or teaming up with web sites to sell their products. This offers them another avenue for sales. Higher number of Internet users will give them a wider audience. Internet access though cable TV lines is critical in achieving the number predicted, the study says. 'There is growing understanding that access through conventional phone lines is losing market share. The future is in broadband,' said Aditya Srinath, an analyst at S.S. Kantilal Ishwarlal Securities. 'I see alliances building over different kinds of delivery mechanisms.' In such a scenario, companies such as Satyam Infoway Ltd. and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. - which provide access and content over phone lines - may need to team up with cable operators such as Zee Telefilms Ltd. to benefit, said analysts. India has about 3.5 million to 4 million computers and 22 million fixed telephone lines as compared with 41 million television sets and 25 million cable connections. Estimates Differ Credit Lyonnais' estimates are nearly double those of market research firm International Data Corp., or IDC. IDC predicts that India may have 17 million Internet users by 2004. According to the Credit Lyonnais report, IDC forecasts 34 million users in China by 2004. However, start-up Internet companies are wary of the different numbers. 'These are all projections that could go awry any time,' said Prasoon Parijat, executive editor at WebNeuron.com, an Internet company that runs a web site Zipahead.com on career development. 'We think (the figure is) in-between the highest and lowest (figures).' A host of companies have set up their web sites in the past two years. Only 1 percent of the nearly 800 million web sites cater to an Indian audience, the study says. That could soon change. India now has 2.6 million net users, up from 535,000 at the end of 1998, according to the National Association of Software and Service companies. 'Whatever the numbers, the market is big and is going to explode,' said Srinath. Satyam Infoway's American depositary receipts Monday gained $6 13/16 to 95 1/16 yesterday on the Nasdaq stock market. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. rose 3.1 percent to 318.4 today on the Mumbai stock exchange. Shares of Zee Telefilms Ltd. gained 4.9 percent to 1,619 rupees. cnetinvestor.com