From the media

EXPANDING its Bulletin Board Service (BBS) operations, Nanda Netcom has brought Live Wire! BBSes (LWBBS) to Delhi(91-11-6424781),Hyderabad(91-40-7704698) and Kolhapur(91-231-660485).

LWBBS, started by Suchit Nanda, already has local nodes in Ahmedabad, Baroda Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Pune. With over 4,000 current users who dial into 35 phone lines with dial-up speeds upto 33.6 Kbps all across the country, the combined strength of all LWBBS nodes make it one of the largest BBS setups in the world. With the recent bundling arrangement with every HCL Frontline Beanstalk computer, the online BBS population is expected to cross 10,000 users this year.

Nanda Netcom has also entered into a tie-up with Sultanallys Solutions to provide BBS facilities to all their clients. Sultanallys, which deals in computers, communications and telecom products, will be bundling a free 6 months subscription to Live Wire! BBS and Sultanallys Info BBS along with every Motorola modem it sells. "We want to promote the use of modems and the culture of online communications in Indid," said a senior executive of Sultanallys. The BBS will be used to provide a round-the-clock interactive support to Sultanallys' customers. This concept, while very common in the US is only now gaining ground in India. There are over 1,000 support BBSes in the US that provide such services.