Computers Today June 1998 Computer Business: Surfing at the Corner Shop

June 1998 COMPUTER BUSINESS

CYBER CAFES
Surfing at the Corner Shop

Once thought a losing venture, the cyber cafes are mushrooming once again in the country and turning profitable as surfers throng in.

By Sunita Patnaik

Two years ago, they were part of plush atmosphere. The first cyber cafes, where you could surf the Net, as well have coffee or snacks, were opened in Hotel Leela Kempinsky in Mumbai and Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi. Taking the cue, a few more entrepreneurs with PCs to spare, and Internet connections to lease, like Cyber Den and Cyberia in New Delhi, opened shops. But the punch seemed to be heady. The last two closed down, Leela turned the cafe to Cyclone Recreation Club, and Sheraton Cafe, though continuing, is not crowd-rich. "Those who closed shops could not churn good returns and met with losses," says Ravindra Lal, vice president, operations, Cafe Wired World (CWW) in New Delhi.

History, however, is repeating itself. With Internet fever catching on, cyber cafes are mushrooming again. Besides the one at Maurya and CWW, Delhi has Internet Home, Three Com Internet club etc. Mumbai has Indian Merchant Chamber's cyber cafe, Space Jam, etc. Bangalore has Indian Express and the Cyber Club at the Windsor Manor. It even has a headier mixture—infotech and pub at Kingfisher's CyberPub where customers can take a tour of the Internet and even pep up with a bottle of Kingfisher. Calcutta has a few cyber cafes and so do Goa, Cochin, Thiruvanathapuram, Varanasi and Lucknow.

Surfing at the Cafe

Cruise, surf and download from the Net, chat or receive/transmit mail electronically—cyber cafes offer you online services. Some even offer a business centre from where you can carry on your necessary office work. The profile of the Net surfers covers students interested in studying abroad and need the right outlet to send their bio-data, doctors who update themselves on the latest in medical discoveries, housewives who love to chat online, and youngsters "who just want to have fun".

A few samples. Opened in August 97, CWW is claimed to be the "largest cyber cafe in North India" with 15 133 MHz Pentium machines online. Open from 11.30 a.m. to midnight, CWW attracts students, housewives, busy executives and tourists.

Though one cannot sip and snack while surfing, British Council's (BC) Cyber Centre offers similar facilities as a cyber cafe. Opening the Cyber Centre was a natural extension to the library, said Gurpreet Singh Kochhar, Info Centre officer, BC. "One can access news journals, and Britain Newspapers on the very day it is published," Kochhar explains.

The Price you Pay

How expensive is surfing at cyber cafe? Maurya's Cyber Club charges Rs 800 per hour to surf the Net and Rs 250 for transmitting an E-mail. That's for non-residents and for residents, it is Rs 250 per hour of browsing. At CWW, it's Rs 130 per hour for surfing, and Rs 40 for 15 minutes of accessing/transmitting E-mail. Internet Home charges Rs 120 per hour for browsing the Net, and Rs 10 for accessing E-mail and Rs 5 for each printout in monochrome. Internet Home will shortly include facilities like scanning and CD-Writing. BC's Cyber Centre charges Rs 50 per half hour of browsing the Net. One can also download on floppies supplied by the Cyber Centre for a price of Rs 25.

Cyber cafes also offer training, consultancy, mailing services, etc. For example, CWW has even started a service for the NRIs—Dakiya Mail Collect Service for $25 a month. Three Com provides information to students and professionals, downloads all the required information in the form of magazines or journals for its members.

The Prospects in Store

"Given another five years and we will have cyber cafes being used extensively in the country," envisions Lal. On the flip side, another five years and we will have Internet terminals at every nook and cranny. There are already such terminals being housed in STD/ISD booths, who charge Rs 75-100 per hour. Lal, however, is undeterred by this threat. "Cyber cafes will entice all those who are not only interested in surfing the Net but also care about the ambience, the services such as helps and guarantee against crashes and system failure."

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