According to Bill Crawley, senior vice president (sales and marketing), Dishnet will have as its core focus revenues from Internet subscription, particularly from the broadband sector with specific reference to the DSL. While corporate users will continue to be important, Dishnet plans to woo the home user to the DSL, through the Dishnet hub. "We find that people having analogue connectivity in the house still come to Dishnet centre, particularly the small business segment. The small business user prefers to experiment with Web-site development, scan prints, etc., from the hub and often blocks long hours of time at the hub," Crawley said. To takecare of such users, there would be special services as privileged members. Though not immediately in the offing, a Dishnet subscriber will be allowed special rates for printing output/scanning documents, etc., at a hub, for example. "We have to understand our offerings in relation to competition," Crawley said and a daily feedback was being gathered from users. Systems were being built and the company was working on piloting a couple of schemes.

While customer feedback continues to be the priority, viability of the services will not be sacrificed. But every attempt will be made to pass on the benefits of technology to the customer, in terms of pricing Crawley said. The DSL had enabled a pricing of Rs 30 per hour in most hubs in Tamil Nadu which was found viable despite the investment in infrastructure (building lease, Dell P3 computers, digital cameras, and scanners, manpower, etc). However Dishnet hubs in prime localities in Mumbai were charging Rs 60 per hour, which was still low compared to otherInternet centres. While the DSL allowed for lowered rates, real estate costs necessitated a higher price mechanism, and Dishnet had no intention of losing sight of the bottom-line.

Likewise in Chennai, a premier hub charged Rs 40 per hour on account of having flat screen computers, offering a more pleasurable experience. The company which was rolling out hubs (75 so far) and simultaneously learning to provide value-added services, is also confident of the beginning made in DSL connections. "We have an edge because we came in first and have come up the learning curve," he said. Though competition is inevitable in the segment, it will not be simple for new entrants to succeed rapidly - the expertise has to be gained in-house," he added.