NOW initiates operations in Mumbai

Network of the World (NOW) a private international gateway, has launched its operations formally in Mumbai The gateway located at Tardeo, will provide Internet users with high-speed connections to the Internet and to NOW, the converged interactive TV-web site rolled out from London in June. NOW features sport, music, the environment, online games, films and art.

The gateway has been set up by NOW's India partner Data Access India Ltd, a joint venture between Hong Kong-based Pacific Century CyberWorks and Delhi-based SPA Enterprises. Currently the gateway is designed to handle up to 48 MBPS bandwidth, which can be enhanced to 96 MBPS. The gateway provides a direct uplink to the US and Asia Pacific Internet backbone while the telecom Network connection is with MTNL's fiber optic backbone.

"Our strategy has been to invest in the best technology to bring the fastest and steadiest Internet connections to India's Web surfers," said Siddhartha Ray, MD, Data Access. "By creating state-of-the-art Network infrastructure, we ensure that a NOW subscriber who uses even a low-speed modem can expect a richly enhanced Internet experience."

Subscribers will be connected from their local exchanges to fiber-optic Network by MTNL, and then to NOW's dedicated C-band satellite gateway, which will carry subscribers onto the Internet. The arrangement ensures stable connectivity and faster downloads than possible through other service providers that do not have their own, dedicated gateway.

NOW's dedicated service provider offers many benefits to subscribers. In addition to innovative content and reliable connectivity, registration is achieved online, simply and quickly, through NOW-India.com. The service is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Subscribers will receive a monthly bill for the number of hours actually used rather than pay in advance for an allotted quota.

Mumbai is the second city in its India rollout. The service, introduced in Delhi in October, is scheduled to be unveiled in Bangalore and Madras early next year. By early 2002, Ray said, NOW is scheduled to be available in 26 cities.

"NOW's strategy of providing smooth Internet access, total surfer convenience and terrific converged content has paid rich dividends in Delhi, where we are gathering about 400 subscribers per day on an average," said Rajiv Jaitly, Data Access Executive-VP, Sales and Marketing. "We are looking to sign up even more subscribers in Mumbai, a city recognized as India's most Internet-savvy."