Rapidshare [both rapidshare.com and rapidshare.de] are one the most visited sites in India according to Alexa India rankings. At the same time, a recent BSA report says that software piracy in India is as high as 72%.Not sure if we can relate the two figures but Rapidshare does receive fairly significant traffic from India.
The good news for Rapidshare users in India is that they can download / upload data from Rapidshare at better speeds now since the file hosting service has added a new server in India itself (dl30vsnl.rapidshare.com)
Shyam Somanadh has the scoop. He adds that "users who are either on MTNL or Tata Indicom should see considerably faster speeds because of this". Here's the official announcement Rapidshare made few weeks ago:
Today we have integrated two new carriers in our network. Now you can download your files via VSNL and GlobalCrossing as well. We hope that you can download files even faster now.Maybe it's time for other file hosting services like Megaupload and Megashare, who are also on the Alexa India list, to follow the footsteps of Rapidshare before they lose further ground.
You may also want to read how Akamai Speeds Up the Web.
Related: Rapidshare.de is now Rapidshare.com - Existing users have issues.