Rachel Pillai

"The people at VSNL will never know what hit them." That’s what Ounli Whage, CEO, Radish.com has to say. Set to launch its pioneering ISP technology called, well, the Meta Radish, Mr Whage has reason to smile. Funded by his company, Hyderabad-based Radish Inc., the ISP will simply change the face of telecommunication, not just in India, but around the globe.

How, you ask? Try this for starters: For a princely sum of Rs 300, anyone and everyone with a PC can install the Radishometer, a small box-shaped gadget that attaches itself to your phone. That done, the only thing to do is wait. While you have lunch, watch TV, or simply take a long nap, the Radishometer begins to mine sites that interest you, be it entertainment-related, business and financial websites, or just about anything you want.

That done, it acts as a meta-browser, compiling and saving all content from these predetermined sites, on to your hard drive. So, the next time you switch on your PC, anything you want off the Net, is actually available for you to browse through, offline.

The best part - yes, there’s more - is that since Radish uses a direct fibre-to-fibre technology, it completely bypasses all existing communication lines. In a nutshell: No telephone bills, no Internet bills, yet, Internet access anytime you need it. “Can you imagine what this means?” adds Whage. “Since the costs of access to cyberspace will be completely eliminated, virtual reality will suddenly have unprecedented impetus to grow in unimaginable ways. There will be absolutely no limit to the globalisation process.”

The VPs are already crowding the Radish office in Mumbai and Hyderabad, all clamouring for a piece of the pie. The question, then, is:Are you going to go for it?

Here's how to access it