Tattered Net

BS OPINION

 For, the way things stand, the die is heavily loaded against the stand-alone ISP operator. Stand-alone operators, by definition, do not have any network of their own, but piggyback on telecom lines owned by others such as MTNL and BSNL.

 Normally that should not pose any serious problem since all the ISP firms have to do is to pay a part of what they earn to MTNL or BSNL for using their service.

 But, and this is the irony of the situation, for every Rs 6-10 earned per hour by private ISPs from customers surfing the Net, MTNL and BSNL earn Rs 24-30 as the phone charges for surfing the Net.

 According to the Internet Service Providers Association, that adds up to a whopping Rs 1,600 crore of annual revenue for the two PSU telecom firms.

 Normally, you