Which one of the following is not an Internet Service Provider (ISP) ?
2010
Which one of the following is not an Internet Service Provider (ISP) ?
Answer: D. Infotech India Ltd. — Concept: An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is an organisation that supplies access to the Internet to other users. Its defining activity is operating the…
- A.
MTNL
- B.
BSNL
- C.
ERNET India
- D.
Infotech India Ltd.
Attempted by 58 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is an organisation that supplies access to the Internet to other users. Its defining activity is operating the access side of the network — gateways, backbone links and subscriber connections — and offering that connectivity under a licence or government authorisation. The test is therefore what the organisation supplies to its users; simply being a well-known Indian technology organisation does not make it one.
Application: Apply that single test to each name in the list.
Organisation | What it does | Supplies Internet access? |
|---|---|---|
MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) | Public-sector telecom operator for Delhi and Mumbai, set up in 1986 | Yes — dial-up and broadband connections sold to its subscribers |
BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) | State-owned telecom operator formed in 2000 for the rest of India | Yes — dial-up and broadband connections sold to its subscribers |
ERNET India (Education and Research Network) | Autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, running the national academic network | Yes — connectivity provided to universities, colleges and research laboratories |
Infotech India Ltd. | Information-technology company doing software development and IT services for client organisations | No — it delivers software and services, it does not run an access network |
Cross-check: Two of the four are licensed telecom carriers and a third is a government-funded research network, so all three are in the business of carrying other people’s traffic. ERNET India is the easiest one to misjudge because it is non-commercial and serves only the academic community — but an ISP does not have to be a commercial telco; a network that gives its member institutions Internet access is still providing the service. The remaining name belongs to the software and IT-services industry, which builds and maintains applications for clients instead of operating the access network.
Answer: Infotech India Ltd. is not an Internet Service Provider.