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There were only 230,000 Internet subscribers at the same time last year, according to IDC (India) Limited.

Also, the subscriber base is expected to reach 1.3 million by March 2001, a 145 per cent increase over the previous year.

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This high growth rate is, in part, fuelled by the increase in the number of installed PCs.

The high penetration rate of Internet-ready PCs in the home segment is leading to a rapid adoption of the Internet by home user, the latest IDC report on Internet and intranets says.

It claims that although competition among the few ISPs operating in the country is increasing, there still remains a large potential for tapping more Internet subscribers.

The real impact of the national and regional ISPs will be apparent only by the end of 2001. The Internet subscriber numbers, however, continue to be greatly influenced by PC shipments in the country.

Only after obtaining a substantial critical mass will one witness a proliferation of Internet use in the country, the report says.

As on July 31, 1999, when the survey was conducted, the small and medium organisations had the largest portion at 130,000 or 41.7 per cent of the subscriber base.

Large organisations were next with a subscriber base of nearly 97,000 or 31 per cent of the total subscribers.

The home segment showed a healthy growth in its subscriber base share over its November 1998 share of 8.9 per cent.

In the next few years, the home and small and medium sized segments will experience unprecedented growth in terms of Internet connectivity, the report predicts.

UNI

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