According to a press release issued by VSNL here on Tuesday, the scheme involves connecting over 170 streams of 2 Mbps connectivity (each link carrying equivalent of 30 telephone lines) directly routed from local exchanges to VSNL's remote access servers.

This technology also allows VSNL to consolidate all the numbers into a single hunting number throughout Mumbai. The number for access in the city is 4404444. Customers dial this number from their personal computers. The local exchange senses that it belongs to the Internet and routes it to the 2 Mbps stream to VSNL. In case the direct line to VSNL is not available through this exchange, it will be forwarded to the next higher level exchange connected directly.

At present, VSNLhas taken 1,712 Mbps lines (5130 dialup ports) from MTNL. The exchanges from which these lines have been installed include Vile Parle, Andheri, Versova, Goregaon, Kandivli, Bandra, Sakinaka, Powai, Thane, Mulund, Fountain, City, Gamdevi, Mandvi, Cuffe Parade, Malabar Hill, Byculla, Mazgaon and Cooperage.

The need for such a connectivity has stemmed from the growing number of subscribers (there are an estimated 37,822 in Mumbai alone) which has led to continued growth in dial-up lines for providing access to Internet services. Users, the release states, had to face congestion in accessing Internet network owing to the limitations of inter-exchange network in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. While early initiatives were taken to have CNSNs (local exchanges installed at VSNL premises), it failed to fully meet the requirements of telephone lines.

The press release adds that VSNL is also implementing remote access servers at New Delhi under an accelerated implementation programme to improve the quality andavailability of Internet services. Similar servers are also being installed in Chennai, Calcutta and other nodes.