RailTel to set up Cyber Cafes at Stations
03 April 2006, TIMES NEWS NETWORK

NEW DELHI:

Railtel, the telecom arm of Indian Railways, has tied up with Sify and VSNL for launching cyber cafes at 82 railway stations on a pilot basis.

Through these feature-packed cafes, villages and towns around the stations can avail Internet browsing, email services, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), fax and video conferencing. RailTel is also in talks with content service providers in education and games protocols to provide content through these cyber cafes.

If successful, this service would be extended to other stations and areas near stations. The facilities will be run under the “Cyber Express” brand, which is being specifically developed for this purpose. The systems will get connectivity by RailTel through its Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network. The management of the cyber cafes, which includes developing the software, manpower, terminals, will be the responsibility of the private companies.

RailTel officials think that the basic idea was to extend the reach of the Internet to remote and backward areas as well as to a large population of the country. As the large number of people travel through trains daily face long waiting periods, this project will facilitate communication services in every nook and corner of the country, they say.

According to Sify spokesperson Mr David Appasamy, “The basic purpose is to empower millions of people with the power of Internet to improve their quality of life seriously. Our intention is to have an iWay within walking distance of every residential or business area, as well as in places where convenient.” The cost of Internet access and use from iWays, all of which are on broadband connectivity, is about Rs 15 per hour, he added.

Iway is an online model, where customers buy a certain number of hours, which then decrease as per use, much like a pre-paid phone card. With over a million regular users and growing, there will be large number of iWay subscribers travelling who will welcome their presence at railway stations and make use of them, say Sify officials.

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