A senior executive on the MTNL board told The Indian Express that the pricing is likely to be in the range of Rs 20 to Rs 30 per hour. Under the existing slab, from the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited and Satyam Infoway, users who opt for 500-hour accounts are billed at the rate of Rs 20 hour, while 100-hour account holders pay Rs 35 per hour (VSNL) and Rs 39 per hour (Satyam). This means, even at the upper limit of Rs 30 per hour, users can expect a discount of Rs 900.

In a move targeted at getting maximum advantage, even these tariffs will be subject to review after a period of three months. "We would like to be realistic," said the official who expects rates to drop as more internet service providers (ISPs) enter themarket. Currently there is duopoly with the VSNL and Satyam Infoway being the only two nationwide ISPs.

Charges are to be considerably lower than prevailing market rates at the cyber-dhabas MTNL CMD S Rajagopalan had proposed two months back. "The rates will be very attractive," the official said. Around 50 internet kiosks are to be set up both at Mumbai and Delhi within the next three months or so, in a phased manner.

MTNL's internet services, which were to be launched on Tuesday at both metros, have been put off for another 10 days. "All the equipment is in place -- we are conducting trial runs," the official said. Citing test runs as the cause for delay, he said exchanges which had problems of "call dropping" were being rectified. A full-fledged Internet Service Centre was also being started to advise subscribers on the entire internet set-up including modems.

MTNL has taken a 2 Mbps line connection to VSNL which will provide the gateway for international connectivity. This will be upgraded to 4Mbps in two years, depending on the demand. "Connections will be on a first come first serve basis," said the official who is anticipating high demand. Targets for each city have been pegged at 5,000 subscribers.

The internet subscription figures are highly price sensitive. VSNL, for instance, saw a 300 per cent growth in subscription from December 97 to December 98 when it dropped prices by 33 per cent and introduced 100 and 250 hour slabs.