After its forays in Chennai, Coimbatore and Pune, The Chennai based Sterling group company, Dishnet Ltd is now planning to start Internet services in more cities including Delhi and Mumbai. The company is to invest about Rs 20 crore for this.

The services in Mumbai and Delhi are slated to begin by August 15 and in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Indore in Setember. It also plans to expand to major towns in Tamil Nadu like Salem, Erode and Madurai.

Dishnet claims to have about 10,000 subscribers comprising mainly individuals, small office, and home office users- a tribute to its imaginative low pricing (see story on Dishnet). But now that scheme has been discontinued and Dishnet is offering standard ''block time'' accounts to prevent commercial browsing centres from exploiting such a scheme. Innovation, however, remains a key trait with Dishnet. Now they offer access time of 25 hours, 50 hours, 100 hours, 200 hours and 500 hours at rates varying between Rs.495 and Rs. 5750.

Dishnet is also planning to introduce offers aimed at the high end user from August 15. Subscribers buying new accounts will get a PC free if they buy Internet access services worth Rs.60,000.