12 May, 1999: As MTNL enters the arena of the world wide web on the occasion of its becoming the second largest ISP (Internet Service Provider) in India after VSNL, it is making a big start-up by offering live coverage of the World Cup’99 on-line. MTNL has engaged Intermesh Systems— India’s leading internet solution providers and the creators of www.IndiaMART.com — India’s largest business database on the net, for creation and maintenance of this site.
This web site is going to serve as the curtain raiser for MTNL’s portal Indian site— ‘Bharat on line’. The site www.cricket.bol.net.in, is first of its kind to offer a ball-to-ball commentary of the ongoing matches on-line. The site will also display updated CEAT rating of the world’s top 20 cricketers with each successive match. Other highlights are features like on-line polls for the winning team and the official World Cup song. It also contains interesting sections like schedule of the World Cup matches and card-file of all the competing teams with detailed profiles of the top players who are expected to create waves in the ’99 World Cup.
Interesting features like history of all six world cups held in the past, records made during these Cups and other one day-internationals make this site a must visit for all cricket fans. This site uniquely presents the accounts of famous Umpires, the momentous history of World Cup venues and a list of trophies and prizes to be awarded during the World Cup. A section on the ‘point-distribution system’ lists out the rules laid out for the teams to qualify for each successive round. Daily news updates will keep the surfers informed with the latest events of the Cup.
The unique features of the site are its visual appeal and eye-catching sporty layout. The site is designed to facilitate easy browsing and downloading using cutting edge Internet technology. www.IndiaMART.com, the creators of this web-site are pioneers of Internet technology in India with over 300 Indian and overseas clientele including National Panasonic, Le Meridian, Eureka Forbes, Jindal Steel and Apollo Hospitals. They plan to develop MTNL’s site, ‘Bharat on line’ into an interactive and comprehensive portal site connecting the rest of the world to India. This interactive site will showcase Indian culture and the developments made in various contexts. It will also host various ongoing Indian and international events.
The site will feature general topics covering news-updates, weather, classifieds, etc.; special interest sections like sports, technology, trade and business, travel and tourism, entertainment, health, and a host of other interactive facilities like discussion panels and on-line chat available to the Net users free of charge.