Bharti to offer Ku-band and VSAT hub services

BANGALORE: The newly announced consolidated entity of Bharti Broadband

Networks will use the dedicated infrastructure of Ku-band Internet gateways in

seven locations. It will also make use of its VSAT Hub (Satellite Earth Station)

in Bangalore and its meshed backbone with built-in redundancy. This

infrastructure will be complemented by Bharti’s foray into basic telecom

services, national long distance telephone services, optical fiber backbone and

the undersea cable venture.

The proposed merger of four Bharti companies - Bharti BT Internet, Bharti BT

(VSAT), Bharti Broadband and their holding company, Bharti Telespatiale is

expected to come into effect later this year. The new company, Bharti Broadband

Networks Ltd., will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Televentures, a joint

venture between Bharti and SingTel. This move is to make the company a single

platform for Internet, VSAT and broadband services for enterprise customers such

as large corporates, SMEs and SOHOs and home consumers across different market

segments.

Bharti Broadband Networks CEO Ashok Juneja said, "The strategic decision

is in pursuit of the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction. The

endeavor is to be a ‘customer & market driven’ company, offering only

the best of services and products."

New products and services supported by superior technology will be introduced

in a phased manner across all existing markets of the merged companies during

2001. It is planning to further strengthen its existing network of channel

partners to address the SME and SOHO segments, in addition to the home consumer

segment for Internet dial-up business that they already handle.

The company offers a range of value-added services and integrated solutions

for the enterprise segment. These services range from providing Internet

bandwidth, VSAT solutions, VPN, hybrid solutions, server co-location, corporate

mail and web hosting across markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai,

Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Pune, Jaipur, Indore and Ludhiana.

The company will continue to market its consumer products and services under

the Mantra branding. This will include the dial-up Internet service (Mantra

Online), the consumer portal (www.mantraonline.com)

and the Internet service to cable-ready homes (Mantra via Cable).