The Hindu Business Line : NIXI may provide inter-node transit bandwidth

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New Delhi Jan. 22 In a move that would make Internet services cheaper and faster, the Ministry of Communications said that steps are being taken to keep Internet traffic generated in India within the boundaries of the country.

Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister for Communication, Information and Technology, said: "The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) will soon provide transit bandwidth between its nodes. This would help the small ISPs in remote areas to get connected."

Addressing the Digital Summit organised by Internet and Mobile Association of India, Mr Maran said that with NIXI, MTNL and Software Technology parks of India (STPI) working to have local servers in the next 3-4 months, cheaper and faster Internet access would be ensured.

Currently, most of the Internet traffic is connected to servers based in the US.

This not only makes Internet connectivity more time-consuming, it is expensive.

For instance, if a user in Delhi sends an e-mail to someone in Mumbai, the data is often routed right up to the US and back to Mumbai. Once the NIXI provides transit bandwidth, the e-mail will be sent directly to the recipient.

The ISPs have been demanding that servers be located within the country.

Mr Rajesh Chharia, President of the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), said: "We welcome the statement regarding NIXI inter-connection and opening of new nodes at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Lucknow. I also suggest that a node in Pune be opened as the city is Internet-savvy."

Interconnection between all nodes of NIXI and bringing in major servers such as Yahoo, MSN, Rediff and Google will enable ISPs to lower the cost of bandwidth, which in turn could be passed on to the end-consumer.

Cheaper roaming

Mr Maran also said that he supported the initiative taken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to bring down roaming charges for mobile users.

While the cellular service providers have opposed the move, the Minister said that he was awaiting cheaper roaming services.