Atria’s ‘Net through Cable’ in Bangalore from January

BANGALORE: The silicon city of India will be enjoying yet another ISP through

cable from January. Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT), a broadband service

provider, is all set to launch its Internet through Cable, branded CableLite, at

Rs 1,500 per month.

The company’s managing director, CS Sunder Raju, said, "We have a

pilot running in the city covering about 400 homes. The service will be launched

in January and we expect to cover 3000 more homes by March next year. We plan to

price it anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 per month. We are also in the

process of customizing products for as much as Rs 700 per month."

CableLite will offer Internet through a set top box, available with the

service, for a rental of Rs 150. This set top box is imported from the US with

ACT branding. The set top box is capable of delivering bandwidth up to 8 Mbps.

The company plans to offer education, entertainment and online gaming along

with the Internet connection. It is also planning strategic alliances for

offering online shopping and financial services. "Education and video on

demand are the two driving factors for online service through cable. We are also

developing content for high school and pre university curriculum," said

Raju. The company has also tied up with a Korean company called Han Computers,

to offer online gaming service, he added.

Atria has spent about Rs 120 crore in Bangalore to offer these services and

plans to cover 250,000 homes by 2002. According to Raju, there are about 800,000

cable-connected homes in Bangalore. The company is acquiring small time cable

operators in Bangalore to get hold of their existing infrastructure and customer

base. So far the company has acquired about 90 such operators, thus covering 70

per cent of the city. By March the company plans to buy over 35 per cent of the

existing 700 cable operators in the city.

The company also plans to launch its service in the cities of Karnataka,

Mysore, Hubli, Darwad and Mangalore. Works for the same is expected to commence

from 2003. It also plans to duplicate the service to eight other Indian cities,

during the same period.

Atria plans to invest Rs 600 crore in its forthcoming projects, through

strategic investors. It expects to rake in revenue of Rs 140 crore in its fourth

year of operations.