IIT Madras' rural ISP to expand reach

n-Logue Communications Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based rural IT services provider, incubated by the TeNet group of IIT Madras, is planning to enter newer rural markets in Gujarat.

The company, which was awarded a contract with government-owned Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL) in 2003 to launch 16 internet access centres in rural areas of the state, is now awaiting the finalisation of a new contract with the government to set up 100 new kiosks or e-gram centres.

n-Logue currently has 200 active internet kiosks under the name 'Chiraag' and has come up in areas surrounding Mehmdabad, Palanpur, Palitana, Prantij, Patan, Visnagar and Vyara.

With the establishment of the new internet kiosks, which connects villages with the gram panchayat as a main access point, n-Logue would be catering to NRIs for whom internet connectivity in remote areas has been a problem. It would provide access to government portals that contain online forms and applications for documents and is planning to introduce online English and Std X tutorials following its success with the same in Tamil Nadu.

"IIT Madras designed the online course for Class X tutorials, which was taken up by over 1,500 students in rural Tamil Nadu. We plan to collaborate with IIT Madras to emulate the model first in Karnataka then in Gujarat in the coming months," said Sharad Brahmane, CEO, n-Logue Communications.

The company's working model consists of giving a bank loan of Rs 50,000 to purchase a computer and its accessories, including a printer, a web camera, a four-hour battery backup and software to each kiosk operator.

Villagers with basic educational qualifications are then selected and trained to become kiosk operators and a software programme is developed for them. Following that, video-conferencing facilities are installed enabling doctors to conduct weekly tele-conferencing with their patients.

However, even as the company plans more kiosks adding to the 2500 it has across the country, Brahmane admits there is still some way to go before rural ISPs catch on in remote villages.

One of the main deterrents is the cost of establishing a kiosk.

Each kiosk costs approximately Rs 53,500 to set up, and includes equipment like a Wall Set that receives the wireless corDECT signal, branded PC with 15? colour monitor, computer peripherals and others.