Chief general manager of BSNL Rakesh Kapoor launches the Nova NetPC in Ranchi on Wednesday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, July 22: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), along with Novatium Solutions Private Limited, today launched a low-cost computing and Internet device, Nova NetPC.

The Nova NetPC would be available for Rs 2,999, excluding the cost of the hard disc that comes at a price of Rs 2,300. BSNL will provide a broadband connection in this device at a monthly rental that starts from Rs 274 for Plan 125 along with 10 per cent tax. BSNL, however, has decided to offer 20 per cent discount to those subscribing to a broadband connection on their Nova NetPC.

The buyers of the device will have to pay a monthly sum of Rs 175 for upkeep of the system. This includes anti-virus, upgrade of services, license for applications and other services.

“For BSNL customers of fixed lines, who have so far stayed away from computing and Internet due to cost and complexities, Nova NetPC has come as a boon,” said Rakesh Kapoor, the chief general manager of BSNL.

Kapoor and Praveen Dwivedi, the general managers (business alliance) of Novatium, along with senior BSNL officials, today launched the Nova NetPC at function in the state capital today.

The joint service of Novatium and BSNL has already been launched in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Karnataka.

The Nova NetPC would be available to the rural populace at an initial down payment of Rs 1,900 and a monthly rental of Rs 175. The customer has to subscribe to a broadband plan of his choice separately.

“We are looking at attaining a subscriber base of 2 lakh by the end of the 2009-10 fiscal in the state,” said Dwivedi.

“Any change in the computing sector would automatically get updated in the Nova NetPC of a customer as all the updates are carried out by the company centrally through a common server,” said R.D. Rai, a dealer of the computing and Internet device.