By the year-end 1998, the number of netizens across the world is expected to touch 120 million. India too is sparing no efforts to push the growth of Internet and has recently allowed private participation in this area. The cellular operators—many of whom may also become ISPs—should benefit from the rapid rise in the use of Internet. As a dial-up call is first routed through the operator’s network before accessing Internet, Intelligent Network (IN)—providing Internet-related services—can handle this call to create value for the user and the operators.

Due to rapid growth, the most common problem faced by Internet users is the access. During peak hours, more people seek access to the Internet provider than there are modems at the ISP resulting in dial-up line being often busy. The optimized access service is used to guarantee a level of access probability to the user. A non-demanding user may accept a low probability of access during peak hours for a cheaper subscription, say, with only 10 modems for 100 users. A teleworker, on the other extreme, may demand a guaranteed "priority" access and take a more expensive subscription with much larger number of modems. Or the network can keep track of the loading of different access points and connect to the one depending on low, medium, or high category of access, chosen by the user. The IN system deals with such connections and billing depending on the category of Internet access chosen.

IN also offers to the ISP several "call screening" possibilities.

Irregular or new Internet users may not like to go for normal subscription, and may prefer to pay as per usage for a higher rate per time unit. As IN enables various Internet surfing packages to choose from, access provider can segment the market on the basis of the usage:

• Pay-per-surf: This provides Internet access without any specific Internet subscription by charging as in a payphone i.e., at a certain rate per time unit. Billing for Internet surfing is provided on the regular bill itself. Or one can pay using alternate billing methods—a prepaid or a credit card.
• Surf-for-free: The user dials a free Internet number and is connected to ISP’s advertisement pages, sometimes with direct links to the advertising companies with own web-servers to provide information.

In both the cases, the IN system provides routing to the selected ISP, on the basis of the dial-up number. IN takes care of the billing on the basis of the duration of the connection to the specific ISP. Bills are charged to the end user in case of "pay-per-surf", or to the ISP in case of "surf-for-free".

These services allow access to value-added information like weather forecast and stock market. The operators can add some powerful interactive and multimedia features.

There are two ways of accessing the kiosk service on Internet.

• Via the kiosk home page that lists all the sites accessible at a premium rate.
• Via the website of an organization where some pages may be charged. For access, the user is asked to authorize the billing to the operator. Then the operator monitors the time used to visit those pages.

Billing can be combined on the regular bill—at a specific rate just like voice kiosk services—eliminating the need for separate Internet subscription. The operator can also trace the user profile i.e., the type of information accessed by him on Internet.

It offers to the corporate users the same functionality as on intranet, even when they are not directly connected to the corporate LAN. Some of the advantages include:

• Via a universal or free number, users have remote access to the corporate intranet just like the voice VPN, implemented by IN.
• A common bill is made at special corporate rates.
• Multi-site companies get lower rates for traffic between sites.
• Subscribers are able to telework more efficiently doing away with the problems of remote access administration.

By interworking simple voice calling and Internet surfing, it offers several possibilities to the operator:

• Incoming call notification makes it possible to receive calls while surfing on Internet without interrupting surfing. When an incoming call is received, the user is notified on the screen, he can phone through a multimedia PC, or disconnect the Internet and take the call on his phone.
• E-directory makes it possible to set up a voice call while surfing on Internet, by connecting to a specific site. A user connects to a site and selects the phone number in personal directories to connect.
• Possibility of being called back by clicking on a special option shown on a web page. An Internet user gets a call from the web page owner, for instance to explain details or prices about a product or service on the page.
• Voice and fax mail box on a web site for users who do not want to be disturbed with calls or faxes while surfing. Instead, they activate their voice mail through a dedicated web site, where the calling party delivers the message. The surfer is notified, when a message is deposited on the mailbox.

Today, most of the network operators are trying to maximize their revenues by offering more value to their subscribers and may like to become ISPs. However, this is only the first step in the value chain IN platform, besides the benefit of several other services, that enables the operator to move further up the Internet value chain.