HCL Comnet Launches SpaceTeach

HCL Comnet has launched ‘SpaceTeach’, a VSAT-based interactive, two-way distance education application. The company has done a project for IIT Bombay, substantiating the efficacy of the solution for imparting lectures facilitated through live interactions. Launched as a pilot in May 2002, these lectures are currently being beamed, from IIT Bombay to three centres — one in Mumbai, Indore and Nagpur each. This offering is an attempt by the company to diversify away from simply selling, installing and commissioning VSATs. The company was acclaimed as India’s no. 1 VSAT service provider (according to number of VSATs installed) by a recent survey in Voice and Data magazine’s May issue. 

According to Deepak Phatak, Head KRESIT, IIT Bombay, the architect of the project, "With emerging technologies information dissemination has become much easier and cost-effective. At IIT Bombay, we aim to take this phenomenon a step further by reaching out to students and working professionals instead of they reaching to us. This distance education project will eliminate all physical barriers to education by creating a national virtual classroom. We will expand to more than 8 colleges benefiting more than 30 000 students nationally