Honest 836 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 Can't afford a personal computer? If you happen to be a Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) customer in Mumbai and Delhi, you will soon be able to get a PC for as low as Rs. 4,500. This PC, is being offered by MTNL in partnership with Chennai-based Novatium and comes with an internet connection for a small monthly fee. The finer details of the partnership and the offer price for the device are expected to be announced today in Delhi by the Communications and IT Minister, A. Raja. This computer, called netPC by Novatium, is a no frills device, this means, most of the common hardware that you find on any normal PC is absent here. The terminals will be connected to a centralized server in the locality by MTNL and provide it with the internet service. The PC which looks and functions like any other desktop does not have a regular CPU or any storage devices. All applications, including the storage of data of all customers are done by the centralized server in the locality. Novatium earlier undertook a small project in a south Chennai locality that provided all users to get a computing system with online software applications such as word, presentation tools, spreadsheets, surf the Internet, learn on education packages, play games and music online for a monthly fee. The software or applications are automatically upgraded by the company. Users are also given a memory space of 2 GB on the central server. The partnership with MTNL could be based on a similar model. With regard to browsing the internet, common problems like the viruses, installation of different security software does not occur since connectivity to the World Wide Web is remotely managed by Novatium. The Novatium website says, "The netPC reaches to your home on a network cable just like a cable television service or broadband. Metro-ethernet deployments are quickly becoming a pervasive reality, and hence instead of just the internet broadband to your home, one can ask for a complete desktop with inbuilt internet access, educational packages, online games, chat, webcam, productivity suites and much more only served on the Nova netPC." The netPC's advantage is that its customers do not have to face the challenges associated with a regular PC. The unique selling proposition for this model is the low cost of ownership, low maintenance and only server end system upgrades. Customers have the choice of using either Windows or Linux operating systems. Since the entire concept is routed through a centralized server, customers are saved the hassles of hardware and software costs as well as upgrades as these tasks are carried out centrally. High cost of owning a full fledged PC is one of the biggest bottlenecks for the uptake of broadband services in the country. The MTNL-Novatium partnership is expected to bring down the upfront investment for the consumer taking a broadband connection considerably. So far, broadband growth has been sluggish with just about 2 lakh subscribers a month. My dear friends it could be really helpful for those who doesn't have computer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himanshu Singh 19 Report post Posted July 26, 2008 Novatium Ties Up With Mtnl For $100 PC TOI reports: They grabbed international headlines when they launched their $100 (around Rs 4200) Net PC in January this year. It was touted to be one of the cheapest Net PCs anywhere in the world. So much so that Novatium Solutions, the Chennai-based company that was incubated at IIT Chennai went on to be featured by Newsweek as their cover story some months ago. Six months later, after tasting success with their pilot project in collaboration with MTNL in Delhi, the company is now drawing up expansion plans. This month Novatium is signing a commercial deal with MTNL to provide the PC and computing services with all MTNL boradband plans. "In the pilot project, MTNL included it in their Rs 399 broadband plan. Under the revenue sharing agreement, MTNL kept Rs 100 for the net connectivity while Novatium got Rs 299 for computing services per user," says Jaideep Kohli, COO, Novatium Solutions. Under the new deal, MTNL will provide Net PCs with all their broadband plans. Of course, the customer can chose if they want to take the PC. As for revenue sharing, it will continue like before. Kohli says, "they have a target of selling 1 lakh Net PCs by the year end in India. Meanwhile, they are also in talks with other service providers across the country to launch the PC in other cities." "Mumbai will be launched next month. Within this financial year, we will spread out to top 10 Indian metros," Kohli adds. As for maintaining the $100 tag, they plan to continue subsidising it at their end to keep the price stable. The company has just signed a deal with Mauritius Telecom (MT), the leading broadband providers of Mauritius, to provide the PC. Under the deal, Novatium will charge MT $2 per user per month. Kohli feels the $100 price tag will help Novatium increase PC penetration to 1,00,000 households by 2012. The company is also in talks with telecom providers in Thailand and Dubai to take the NetPC there. So what exactly is the NetPC? Novatium has tried to redesign the computer, by slashing costs while keeping the form and functions similar to a top-end PC. Based on cheap cell-phone chips, it comes without a hard disk, pre-packaged software and extensive memory. Once it's set up, it doesn't look very different from a conventional PC. What's more, the device works with any network server without requiring major modifications. It uses proprietary software from Microsoft or Sun, or free open source software from Linux. In fact, Microsoft is participating in the Chennai pilot programme because Novatium's subscription-based payment system could generate profit in markets where most users run pirated versions of Microsoft products. Network server giant Sun Microsystems too has inked a deal to market the NetPC to enterprises and schools in India beginning this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted July 26, 2008 ^^^ @Sachinrocks My dear friend, please search the forum before you post a new thread. Posting multiple threads on same topic really flood the forum. As of now we had merged your thread with the existing one. Please don't take it personally. Regards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himanshu Singh 19 Report post Posted July 27, 2008 ok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted November 12, 2008 BSNL Ties up With Novatium to Offer Rs. 2,999 PC State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Tuesday announced its partnership with IT products company Novatium Solutions to offer Nova netPC enabled with BSNL broadband. "The key factor that will enable broadband penetration is an affordable computing access device and Nova netPC offers the customers to get home a personal computer at just Rs. 2,999," Minister of Communications and IT A. Raja told reporters. BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal said, "With our huge connectivity and infrastructure, BSNL hopes to give a new wind to the computing and broadband revolution in the country through bundling with products like Novatium netPC." Novatium Solutions chief executive Alok Singh said Nova netPC was an affordable and simple desktop. "We have made it very user-friendly so that it can now be operated like any household appliance at the touch of a button. We are now looking at attaining a subscriber base of 125,000 in the country by the end of the financial year," he added. Courtesy : Tech2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
