Touchtel to stretch fixed-line limits

BANGALORE: Touchtel, Bharti Telenet''sfixed line service, is coming out with two powerful tools to make new-age fixedline telephony attractive to customers. High-speed Internet access andvideoconferencing will be the features which will help Touchtel carve a niche inthe fixed line business.Branded Quick Net, its high-speed Internet access,is based on the digital subscriber line (DSL) technology employing digitalmodems.Quick Net, according to Bharti Telenet''s marketing chief GDhananjayan, would enable one to surf the net and talk on the phonesimultaneously. "One will not encounter a busy tone, even when online," hesays."Quick Net is high speed connectivity. There is no need to dial toconnect. Whenever one clicks on an Internet icon, one is online," Dhananjayansaid.Touchtel is also keen to promote videoconferencing, a technologyemployed on a limited scale. The company is currently studying the market,and trying to arrive at a business decision on pricing. "We will be able todecide on the pricing only after assessing the possible number of people whowould want to use the facility," says Dhananjayan.Touchtel is proposing tolaunch its videoconferencing service in June.For good business classvideoconferencing, the minimum requirement is 12 frames per second. Previously,this was possible with 384 KBPS with three ISDN lines. But today, with the useof `compression technology'', business class videoconferencing is possible withonly one ISDN line.Touchtel''s ISDN connection provides two lines, each of64 KBPS, that can be used simultaneously. "The download speed is going to be 5-6times faster than a normal telephone line. So one would save much more due tolesser Internet usage time," Dhananjayan says.In spite of the advantages,the concept of videoconferencing is yet to pick up among Indian corporates.According to experts, the reasons are manifold. The cost of the link -videoconferencing on a 128 kbps link involves twice the STD charges - is onemain reason. Also many feel that audio conferencing is good enough.Experts feel that the concept will become popular at the cost of a singlelong-distance call.That is probably the reason why Touchtel is taking sometime to arrive at a suitable pricing on its videoconferencingfacility.According to the company, people are already replacing their BSNLlines with those from the private players who seem to offering more value-addedservices.Dhananjayan says Touchtel has to its credit 3,000 subscribersalready. Touchtel is planning to have in its custody 10,000 subscribers beforethe end of the first financial quarter.