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For the sake of records, let us correct ourselves, and hundreds of others: It is WMINet of Pune, not SatyamOnline, that should go down in history as India's first private Internet service provider.

True, SatyamOnline's canvass is the whole nation, unlike that of small-town bumpkin WMINet. But you will shortly see that the country cousin has some spunk.

T O D A Y

• We told you so! • 1=2

On November 21, exactly 10 days after the government threw the switch to activate the private Internet access business, WMINet was alive and kicking.

That was just one day before SatyamOnline.

Besides, WMINet has booked 500 subscribers, of which 200 are already online. In contrast, SatyamOnline is still booking customers and has not really gone operational as in allowing Net access to a customer.

The WMINet service has been launched by Weikfield Mnemonix InfoNetworks Private Limited. WMI is an important pioneer in Pune. It is credited with being the first BBS and the first Web service provider in the city.

Considering that almost every subscriber is going to be a newbie, WMINet has provided 'Net Doctors' round the clock to troubleshoot online for the inexperienced users.

Subscribers are issued email IDs besides a Web-based email address, a personal Web page and a member newsletter.

WMINet also gives users the choice of different mail addresses like wminet.net, wmi.net.in, wmi.co.in, puneworld.com, jwbbs.com and such.

The Linux bet

The word 'geekdom' is spelt as L-I-N-U-X.

The open source software movement's biggest achievement is Linux. The UNIX cousin, that is threatening to break Windows and many reputations.

However, it takes more than courage to put something like Linux at the core of your business. It takes confidence that only a bunch of true blue nerds can muster.

WMINet's servers are high-end Pentium II machines running RedHat Linux 5.1. In fact, all of WMINet's operations rest on Linux. Mail servers, HTTP servers, FTP servers, RADIUS 'authentiation' and authorisation servers and a host of other services run on Linux.

Actually, the ISP's commitment to Linux is such that it has built PLUG, or the Pune Linux User's Group Web site (http://www.plug.org.in), which has got a fair amount of traffic and members signing online.

The products

WMINet has also developed its own user management and billing software which it hopes to release as a product in the burgeoning Indian ISP market.

Again, to help newbies, the ISP has developed and distributed free to its subscribers, a dialup programme called EZConnect. Besides connecting the surfer to WMI's servers, EZConnect also keeps track of and displays the hours spent online, the throughput, and the IP address.

The package

Initially, WMINet cannot help but conform to the VSNL tariff that have been set as the benchmark by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Here's their rate card:

• Net100 - Rs 3,000 + Rs 500 registration
• Net250 - Rs 6,000 + Rs 500 registration
• Net500 - Rs 10,000 + Rs 500 registration
• NetLine - A dedicated telephone line, the pricing for which is to be announced shortly and
• NetName - A domain name registration service with mail forwarding facilities. The pricing for this too is will be announced shortly.

WMINet is offering 100 hours free and a personal Web page for early birds signing up for the Net500 package. Also in the pipeline are tariff plans for unlimited usage schemes and pay-as-you-use schemes.

Related link:

• The WMINet site

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