Railtel, a public sector organisation under the Railways taking care of the transport behemoths telecommunication aspects, is now planning to exploit its vast reach by providing high speed broadband connectivity.
The venture will be initiated in Karnataka, at Bellary, Tumkur and a small pocket in Whitefield before being extended across the country. It is expected to begin within two months.
Christened “Railwireâ€, the initiative’s aim is to provide an application driven network with high speed access to the internet at an affordable cost. Given the low PC penetration, Railtel also plans to manufacture “Thin client PCsâ€, ranging between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000, in association with a partner.
“The thrust is to provide these services in Tier-II and Tier-III cities as the Tier-I cities are somewhat well connected. Hence, the idea to pilot the project at the above districts,†sources said.
The existing cable TV operators will be used to assist Railtel in this venture. “They have responded positively to the idea,†the sources said.
“This will provide an opportunity to the Indian cable industry to handle technology as the future will revolve around delivery of video, voice and data to the public,†the source added.
The network is capable of delivering as much as 16mbps (mega bits per second) per subscriber and a connection could cost as low as Rs 200 a month. The maximum any other company is able to provide for individual subscribers now is 8mbps.
A unique feature is that the subscriber will be able to increase the bandwidth supplied on demand. “This would be done within 30 seconds by logging on to the yet to be activated website www.railwire.inâ€
Source
The venture will be initiated in Karnataka, at Bellary, Tumkur and a small pocket in Whitefield before being extended across the country. It is expected to begin within two months.
Christened “Railwireâ€, the initiative’s aim is to provide an application driven network with high speed access to the internet at an affordable cost. Given the low PC penetration, Railtel also plans to manufacture “Thin client PCsâ€, ranging between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000, in association with a partner.
“The thrust is to provide these services in Tier-II and Tier-III cities as the Tier-I cities are somewhat well connected. Hence, the idea to pilot the project at the above districts,†sources said.
The existing cable TV operators will be used to assist Railtel in this venture. “They have responded positively to the idea,†the sources said.
“This will provide an opportunity to the Indian cable industry to handle technology as the future will revolve around delivery of video, voice and data to the public,†the source added.
The network is capable of delivering as much as 16mbps (mega bits per second) per subscriber and a connection could cost as low as Rs 200 a month. The maximum any other company is able to provide for individual subscribers now is 8mbps.
A unique feature is that the subscriber will be able to increase the bandwidth supplied on demand. “This would be done within 30 seconds by logging on to the yet to be activated website www.railwire.inâ€
Source