VSNL to set up 'data centres' in Mumbai

BANGALORE: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) is planning to set up 'data centres' in Mumbai in another four months' time, which will result in the cost of hosting web sites coming down in India.

'Currently, the charges for hosting a web page are as high as Rs 5,000. As soon as the web farms come up, the prices would become comparable to that in the US. The data centre would come up in Mumbai first, after which we will set up similar centres in six other locations in the country,'' VSNL director (operations) Amitabh Kumar said at the Intelligent Enterprise 99 seminar at Mumbai. At present, due to high cost of hosting charges, most of the Indian companies prefer to host their Web sites in the US.

He added that VSNL is in the process of acquiring space for the centres. Mr. Kumar further said that the Internet backbone should be immediately put in place. "We must establish Internet exchanges where Internet service providers can converge and share a common information and database. Other South Asian countries have already established such exchanges where the data is replicated and ensures quick access to the information.''