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To: djane who wrote (36484)	2/26/1998 8:34:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 61433

India VSNL Internet service under strain Reuters Story - February 26, 1998 05:44 %IN %EMRG %TEL %PUB %DPR VSNL.BO VSNLq.L MTNL.BO V%REUTER P%RTR NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A recent ruling by India's telecom regulator delaying the privatisation of Internet services and a 33 percent tariff cut last month are jamming lines at monopoly Internet service provider, state-controlled Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL). "There has been a sudden spurt in demand for our service. We have added 15,000 to 20,000 subscribers since we cut rates in January...and are on course to top 200,000 subscribers by the end of 1998," VSNL director Amitabh Kumar said on Thursday. VSNL, which started its Internet service on August 15, 1995, cut Internet access rates by 33 percent on January 1, this year from 15,000 rupees ($385) to 10,000 rupees for an annual 500 hours. It also introduced various slabs, with fewer hours of usage at lower prices. Kumar said VSNL's Internet subscriber base had grown to over 90,000 from 75,000 at the end of 1997. He said the constant busy tone that many subscribers got when trying to log on to its Internet service was a temporary phenomenon. "There is no problem in our system...and we have ample capacity for the Internet out of India. The problem is that the number of local lines we have are less," Kumar said, adding that VSNL had applied for new lines in Delhi and Bombay. The firm has asked state-controlled fixed line provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) for 500 additional phone lines in Bombay and another 400 to 500 lines in Delhi. "We want to bring down the ratio of the number of subscribers per line from 15 to about 10," Kumar said. On February 17, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) declared an Internet policy, that would have opened up the sector to unbridled competition, invalid. TRAI said that as the telecom regulator, it had to recommend the terms and conditions of a licence to service provider. The government had not consulted TRAI before announcing the Internet policy. Analysts expect TRAI's ruling to delay the entry of private Internet service providers by several months, increasing the rush to VSNL's Internet service. ($ = 39.0 rupees)