<nettime> Still Not Yet Dead Medium Minitel / internet deregulation in india

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

The Minitel might be >>toast<<, but it continue to spawn all kinds of
avatars in France.  Now, national telco equipment manufacturer Alcatel is
bringing out  (jan. 98) the >>Internet Screenphone<<, an Internet accessing
telephone coming with all standard voice/fax fixtures, a 19cm (6 in.?)
color screen, and a 33.6 K modem (to be upgraded to 56K), with 8 Mb
working memory.  Enough to do all the usual e-jobs , but far too weak on
the storage side, so you'll still need a provider if you donŐt want to
remain a luser.  On the other hand the device, which does not radically
differ from the trusted Minitel box, might well lower the threshold for
users who are reluctant to buy a computer in order to access the Internet,
especially in a >>Internet averse<< country like France.  The avaibility of
voice via the Internet would be an extra bonus, and Alcatel banks on
attracting 10-30% of the >>minitelistes<<.
(from a Le Monde article by Pierre Bathelemy (14/15 sept 97).

.....................

cheers,
Patrice

From: "James Almeida" <jalmeida@lbs.ac.uk>
Organization: London Business School
To: goa-net@lynx.dac.neu.edu
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 17:08:10 UTC
Subject: Deregulation of Interenet Access in India?


                 Internet opened up to pvt sector

                            UNITED NEWS OF INDIA 

http://www.expressindia.com


            NEW DELHI, Sept 16: The government today relinquished its
            monopoly over the Internet and threw it open to private
            service providers.

            An official spokesman said anyone wishing to subscribe to
            Internet services would now be able to do so within two
            weeks through service providers in addition to Videsh
            Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL).

            To facilitate rapid introduction of Internet licence, fees
            would be waived for a period of two years for private
            service providers, the spokesman said adding that tariffs
            for both Internet and other data service providers would
            be reviewed and considered on a promotional basis. The
            decision of the government is expected to enable smooth
            implementation of plans.



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