Nothing can be more exponential than this. In a matter of just six months, the Internet subscriber base in India has grown by a staggering one million.

According to the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), the number of Internet connections in India today stands at two million compared to one million in April-May this year.

If this 100 per cent growth in six months is any indication, by end of the fiscal, the figure would well cross 2.5 million, Mr Amitabh Singhal, Secretary of ISPAI, told Business Line.

Asked about the authenticity of the numbers --- since different organisations and associations are providing varied figures regarding the Internet subscriber base in the country --- Mr Singhal said that ISPAI collects the figures from the DoT (the ISPs are obliged to furnish their number of subscribers to the DoT).

Mr Singhal said that currently, 90-odd ISPs are operating across the Country, of the 430 licences that were issued.

As many as 80 per cent the operating ISPs are in the C category, that is operating in a single point of presence.

As per rough estimates, an investment of at least Rs 3,000 crore would have gone into the Internet sector till date. By the end of 2001, this figure is expected to grow to about Rs 10,000 crore, Mr Singhal said.

The maximum growth is witnessed in dial-up connections and predictably, it is the home segment that is driving the maximum growth in the Internet connections.

"The home segment is accounting for 80 per cent of the dial-up connections, followed by the Internet kiosks that have come up all over the country," Mr Singhal said.

According to him, the other modes of Internet connections ---- the Digital Subscriber Link (DSL) leased lines and cable --- are slowly catching up in India.

While DSL still needs some clear-cut policy with regard to the last mile connectivity, Internet over cable is now being introduced in big cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. Corporates are increasingly preferring the leased line.

Mr Singhal said that although a major consolidation in the ISP segment was expected with the proliferation of service providers, it has not yet happened.

"This anticipated consolidation in the industry has not started happening because companies themselves are completing laying the infrastructure, etc." he said.