Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.960606100956.27535B-100000@alpha2.iimb.ernet.in> Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 10:13:39 +0500 From: "Ganesh N. Prabhu" <mailto:gprabhu@ALPHA2.IIMB.ERNET.IN> Subject: Re: INTERNET technology availability outside of the USA To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Dear Dr. KatzThe information I give here about India is based on my own observation and not from any official sources. Internet direct access, including email, graphic and nongraphic browsers are available free or at nominal yearly charge to faculty and students at only the premier institutes in India - the five Indian Institutes of Technology, the four Indian Institutes of Management and a few national research laboratories through the ERNET network - a network which is restricted to educational institutions. However the lines are of low capacity and graphic servers have to be often used without graphics load.
Two or three commercial indirect email providers exist - you have to buy a modem, pay a high annual charge and about Rs. 20 per page of mail sent and Rs. 2 per page of email received - a cost that is quite unaffordable by individuals - but firms have taken such facilities. The problem is that downloading is very time consuming and expensive on slow telephone lines. Long junk mails and multiple copies are both expensive and irritating. Listserv access is possible but unaffordable.
Commercial browsers are extremely expensive. The government has promised cheaper browser access to students again over slow telephone lines.
Hope this information is useful.
Ganesh N. Prabhu Faculty CSP Area Indian Institute of Management Bannerghata Road Bangalore 560076 India
On Wed, 5 Jun 1996, Jerry Katz at Saint Louis University wrote:
> I would appreciate any information from participants of these
> lists regarding the availability of different types of INTERNET
> technologies around the world. In particular how widely available
> is access to email, gophers, ftp, nongraphical World Wide Web browsers
> (e.g. celleo, Lynx) and graphical browsers such as Netscape and
> Mosaic.
>
> I am also concerned about the cost to users in academia, government,
> and business of using these different technologies.