But if experts are to be believed, there is a cheaper, feasible and lasting solution for bridging the digital gap, provided you have the `WiLL' (read Wireless in Local Loop technology, developed by IIT, Madras and incubated at the Chennai-based Midas, which allows simultaneous voice and data traffic on a single telecom line). This will cost just Rs 50 crore, (just 1/1,000th of Mr Paswan's estimates) to provide both the Internet and telecom services to the 4,000-odd districts in the country within just five years. The icing on the cake is that the cash-strapped government does not need to shell out a paisa to usher in this digital revolution.

Surprised? Don't be, for this is not just another grandiose plan dished out by some techy crank. Rather, it is an ongoing project being implemented by n-Logue Communications (Pvt) Ltd, a telecommunication company promoted by a few professionals from IIT, Madras, in association with Analog Devices Inc of Boston. The project's mission is to equip rural and semi-urban India with the latest technological developments.

According to Mr Radha Pillai of n-Logue, the company is currently implementing the project in five districts of Sikar in Rajasthan, Dehra Dun in Uttaranchal, Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh and Dhar in Madhya Pradesh.

Modelled after the well-known `Gyan Doot Samiti' of Dhar district, which helps the villagers there get and pass on routine information such as commodity prices, revenue records etc, the project is code-named Village Kiosk Model.

Under the model, n-Logue ties up with a local service provider, a private entrepreneur usually, to set up an `access centre' with a capacity of 1,000 telecom and Internet connections in each district at a cost of Rs 25 lakh initially. n-Logue will invest Rs 12-13 lakh in each access centre.

Each access centre, in turn, will open 1,000 village kiosks by roping in a village entrepreneur. n-Logue will supply a wall set, which will connect the kiosk to the access centre, a telephone line and a personal computer with an Internet connection at a cost of just Rs 35,000. Each kiosk, he said, can earn a revenue of Rs 100 per day, which will ensure its viability. "With an average of three to five such access centres, we can saturate the entire district and wire all the villages with each other. Once this is over, we will move on to the adjoining district. We are planning to network the entire country in this way in five years," says Mr Pillai.

He said since n-Logue is itself an ISP, it does not require tie-ups with other ISPs. But the company will execute the project in association with either BSNL or the local basic service operator for wiring the access centres to the national telecom network. He said the total investment required in the coming five years to wire all the 4,000 districts, without leaving out any remote area or village, works out to be just Rs 50 crore.