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Online Reporter 152-02 Domain-ia Hits India
It's not even sex, for heaven's sake. It's just the name of a
country. Yet, there's a virtual explosion of .com domain names that
contain the word India.
We stopped counting after 300. And the themes go all the way from e-
commerce and sex to news and banking. Here's a sample:
ecommerceindia.com, ebusiness-india.com, internetindia.com, silicon-
in-dia.com, itindia.com, indiagrocer.com, in-dia-us.com,
indiayahoo.com, bankofin-dia.com, newsindia.com, sexyindia.com,
hotindia.com and indiasex.com. Yes, there's even an indiasucks.com.
And this virtual "India" eruption does not include the .net or .in
domains.
While a lot of these names may have been registered by domain
squatters greedy for a quick buck, the increasing number of Indian
registrations suggests that the Internet and e-commerce are
beginning to make inroads into one of the poorest corners of the
world. According to domain registrar Network Solutions Inc,
registrations from India jumped 342% in Q1 this year over last. And
since domain names need a place to live, scores of web hosting and
design firms and ISPs are sprouting across the breadth of India.
India's apex software trade body, the National Association of
Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), proudly declares that e-
business will be the new mantra. And as the opportunities provided
by the Y2K problem recede, Indian software houses see their next pot
of gold will be providing e-commerce solutions.
According to a recent survey conducted by the New Delhi-based
Nasscom, Internet and e-commerce-related software and services
exports from India are expected to bring in US $340 million out of
an estimated US $3.9 billion in software and services exports during
the year ending March 31, 2000.
Nasscom president Dewang Mehta says the study indicates that India
can expect to earn at least $1 billion from software solutions and
services exports in e-business/e-commerce applications in the year
2002.
The numbers are still small. The total Internet connections in India
has been estimated to be a measly 280k at the end of May and are
projected to reach only 1.5 million by the end of 2000.
And the figures for e-commerce are currently nothing to write home
about as well. Nasscom estimates the total volume of e-commerce
transactions in India at $30.5 million during the financial year
ending March 31, 1999, 90% of it from business-to-business
transactions. But even though the numbers are still small, as the
private sector establishes a foothold in the Internet access
business, the net population is sure to explode in a country that's
not short of people. That could explain Indian domain-ia.