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Philips may tie up with VSNL for 'Internet TV'

The company is in negotiations with one or two other Internet service providers also but chances of a tieup with VSNL, the country's number one ISP, are high.

T O D A Y

• Turbo switch • Philips' Net TV deal • CMC results • DoT's village phones

The company spokesperson maintains that the tieup will be finalised within a few weeks.

C G Low, the regional marketing manager, Internet TV, Asia Pacific, says that the central idea behind the Philips MyWeb Internet TV platform, as the concept is being called, is to make use of the existing TV set and telephone line as part of a simple solution for accessing the Internet.

It will have an exclusively tailored MyWeb local content to make the initial steps into cyberspace a more friendly and familiar experience for the new Internet surfers, he added.

Low did not disclose the price of Philips' Internet TV but said that it will cost less than a PC. "We will announce the price during our launch in a few weeks," he said.

The Philips MyWeb concept of Internet access is targeted at two main consumer groups. The first group comprises the PC literate, who are already on the Internet using PCs but would like to have a second Internet access device at home.

The second access device need not be a full-fledged PC but a much cheaper alternative in the form of a Philips MyWeb set-top box.

The second target group comprises those who are keen to get on the Internet service but do not own a PC, or they are not quite adept at operating a PC. The potential of the second group is quite large, said the Philips spokesperson.

Philips MyWeb is similar to the proprietary Internet TV platform, Web TV, that was first introduced in the US. Philips is one of the two companies licensed to market Web TV set-top boxes in the US. Now its market share in the US is 75 per cent.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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