Public sector telco MTNL will deploy Novatium’s thin client solution netPC in Delhi and Mumbai, reports the Economic Times. The PC will be priced at Rs. 4500 (around $115), and comes bundled with an Internet connection. I think this tie-up works rather well for both companies - MTNL has been trying to push it’s broadband connection as a means of maintaining revenues when fixed line revenues are dropping, and a low cost solution works to their advantage. At the same they have a number of local exchanges across Delhi, which will allow Novatium to host centralized servers for its thing clients. The only missing piece of the puzzle - the consumer. Then of course there’s the problem of MTNL’s lackadaisical and incompetent technicians (I’m a customer, so I know how bad it is when the connection goes down)...I wonder if Novatium will station execs at each exchange. This announcement comes shortly after Novatium announced funding by New Era Ventures. More on that here.

• Rajesh Jain’s Novatium Funded By NEA