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Internet India
Suzanne McMahon
University of California Berkeley Libraries U.S.A.
smcmahon@library.berkeley.edu
Abstract: India has had Internet access since 1988 when ERNET users were connected live
to the Internet through a link to UUnet in the USA. In August 1995 VSNL (Videsh Sanchar
Nagar Ltd.), currently the sole providers for international communications in India, offered
both text and graphic connectivity to the Internet. Penetration of phone lines is still a limiting
factor, but Internet use in India is growing. The article lists current web sites created in India
or sites on Indian topics.
The Internet in India
On a recent trip to India I attended the New Delhi World Book Fair and was struck that at that Fair two
paradigm shifts for information delivery were going on simultaneously. Clearly the Book Fair was promoting
the shift from illiteracy to literacy or in this context it might be more appropriate to say the shift from oral
tradition to print culture. In a country where 48% of the population is still illiterate, according to the 1991
Census of India, the magic of the book and the power that reading imparts still has tremendous resonance.
Simultaneously, the Book Fair was hosting a workshop on digital libraries in the Internet age and a
teleconference on "Doing Business on the Internet," heralding the shift from print tradition to digital culture
and the passing the magic wand on to a new media.
In a global environment the unique information-age challenges of the developing world are the challenges of
the world community. Al Gore's vision of the GII (Global Information Infrastructure) of fiber optic-based
telecommunications that will bring about economic growth, strong democratic participation, environmental
responsibility, and shared stewardship for the fragile economic, political, and environmental systems of the
world community may be quite a stretch for countries like India, at least in the near future. While it is feasible
in the U.S., home to half the Internet users of the world, to talk about curbside delivery of fiber optic-cable, to
most of the developing world achieving a penetration rate of phone lines above 5% presents a challenge. In a
world where information is arguably becoming the single most important commodity the danger of splitting
the world into information-rich and the information-impoverished is very real. The ability to stay aware of the
"thin" end of the net while planning for global information delivery is an aspect of social conscience that policy
makers and planners must develop. The November 1995 issue of Internet World focused on the Net in Europe,
Africa, and China. The following paper focuses on the Net in India. India has had Internet access since 1988
when ERNET users were connected live to the Internet through a link to UUnet in the USA. ERNET had been
established by a UNDP (United Nations Development Projects) grant to link premier educational and research
institutions in India: The IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), the IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management),
NCST (The National Center for Software Technology) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) were linked
together in 1988, and, through a link to UUnet in the USA, were connected live onto the Internet. But
participation by a broader audience has been limited, until very recently, by cultural, political and economic
factors within the country.
Restrictions from the Indian Department of Telecommunications effectively kept most players out of the
Internet game. The traditional role of DoT in socialist India had been regulating rather than enabling and the
government viewed free flow of information as a security threat rather than as a necessary precondition for
political, social, and economic health. The dismantling of the Soviet behemoth triggered a fundamental
reorientation for India, as well as for many other former Soviet allies. Economic liberalization in 1991 signaled
significant changes in government policy and spurred unprecedented economic growth in the country. On the
information front a number of Indian and foreign vendors began to offer e-mail accounts. In 1994 basic
telecom and value-added services in India were privatized and India began an ambitious program to increase
the number of telephone lines and other means of communications throughout the subcontinent. In August
1995 VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nagar Ltd.), currently the sole providers for international communications in