With public sector telecom giants MTNL and BSNL planning to cut their broadband tariffs to nearly half, a move expected to be followed by a host of private operators offering similar services, the number of net surfers will leap-frog to 8 million by the year end.

Stating this, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal said a huge untapped potential awaits broadband suppliers in the rural areas where other means of communications are not effective.

But in comparison with South Korea and China, India is still way behind, Baijal said at a recently concluded broadband conference.

"There is a need to unbundle the connectivity loop by BSNL and MTNL to achieve a desired growth in this area," Baijal said.

MTNL is expected to announce its reduced broadband rates which will come down to Rs 199 per month from Rs 399 and BSNL is also planning a similar move.

BSNL had recently reduced its broadband tariffs by at least 50 per cent from Rs 500 per month to Rs 250 per month for 256-kbps connections.

The move by MTNL would increase its subscriber base n Delhi and Mumbai. MTNL has a target of adding 500,000 broadband subscribers by the end of current financial year.

''I am confident of meeting the targets as the demand for MTNL broadband has been phenomenal,'' R S P Sinha, CMD, MTNL said.

Sinha said that MTNL has crossed 51,000-mark in Delhi alone and has a total subscriber base of over 90,000. We are adding more than 500 subscribers every day each in Delhi and Mumbai.

''We are targeting to take the number to 2,000 a day,'' Sinha said.