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C Chitti Pantulu
Hyderabad, Nov 18: Ramp Networks Inc has won the prestigious 1998 award for the Most Valuable Product for Communications Hardware instituted by the PC Computing magazine. The software company, with development centres based in Hyderabad, manufactures Internet access devices.
The product, WebRamp 300e, is a small box which enables multiple access to the Internet for several people in a single office without the luxury of a leased line, or an individual modem for every PC in the premises, at no extra cost than the usage time one would have incurred for the single account in use.
The product's ingenuity lies in allowing simultaneous access to the Internet for several people on different PCs, without having to go in for multiple Internet accounts.
The software for the product was developed at the development centre in Hyderabad, Ramp Networks Pvt Ltd managing director Raghu Bathina said.
Though one might feel that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are being cheated out of revenues by enabling several people to use just one account for simultaneous log-in, there is no alternative but to accept the technology, says Bathina. This has happened in the US, where, despite initial reservations, ISPs have accepted it, and have started pushing the WebRamp as a package deal to customers, particularly small businesses and offices.
Apart from multiple access to the Internet, WebRamp also enables users to log-in to their office networks from remote centres like their homes and other locations, in effect, making possible virtual networks at minimum cost. With the ISP market opening up in India, Bathina sees a huge potential for his in the country. He has received about 400 enquiries for the product even before it's formal launch in the country.
He sees a huge potential for the product in the mushrooming Cybercafes, information-technology (IT) institutes, and educational institutions, which are hampered by limited Internet accounts and funds.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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