According to Mr Santosh Parekh, CEO of XPS online, the ISP will be able to offer 64kbps leased line to the corporate sector at an annual rate of Rs 3 lakh against the current market rate of Rs 4.25 lakh.

At present, all the ISPs here use the gateway of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd for Internet connection. Mantra Online and Satyam Online, two major ISPs operating in Calcutta, are also ready to have their own gateway.

Sources in Satyam admitted that it may not be possible to offer price as low as Rs 3 lakh for the leased line. "It depends on what business plans one has in the long run. We will certainly be competitive but in no way we shall sacrifice quality for the sake of low price," said an official of Satyam Online.

Mr Santosh Sarraf, CEO of Express Communication, said quality will be ensured.

"We will be the few ISPs in the Eastern region to have our own gateway. To offer quality service to a wide range of clientele especially the corporate sector, the need of the hour is to have its own infrastructure," said Mr Sarraf.

XPS is investing around Rs 3 crore for this project and hopes to cash in on ever increasing demand from the corporate sector for more bandwidth. When asked about the secret of this competitive offer, Mr Sarraf said that the ISP is rolling out a total solution for the corporate sector of this region.

"Offering leased line is one of them. We are offering services like total networking solutions, corporate mailing facilities with hosting and maintenance of the mail servers, server co-location etc where corporates do not have to worry about bandwidth, system administration or power supply problems," added Mr Sarraf.

Already there is a burgeoning demand for more bandwidth in the eastern region. Industry observers feel that few initiatives have been taken either by the private operators or the government agencies to meet the demand through the setting up of infrastructure like laying of the fibre optic cables or submarine cables.

One such initiative is Caltiger's plan to lay a submarine fibre optic line between Calcutta and Mumbai at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. "With bandwidth becoming cheaper, ISPs have no other option but to create their own gateways and cables. One of the problems to wire this region is nature of the terrain. With the demand for bandwidth growing, ISPs have to look for different solutions to connect the region with the outside world," said Mr Satish Choudhary, director of Leading Edge, a networking company based in Calcutta.