Goldstone to invest $20 mln on IPTV venture

MUMBAI:- Software services firm Goldstone Technologies Ltd. will invest $20 million initially in its venture to launch television services over the Internet, a top official said on Tuesday.

"We will be launching IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) outside India in a couple of months," CEO and Managing Director Travis Caddell told Reuters.

The company is targetting the Asia Pacific region, particularly New Zealand and Australia, for its services.

"We expect to have 100,000 subscribers by the end of the current fiscal year," Caddell said. The service is being launched under the brand mame TV Origin, and will cater to the non-resident Indian community in that region.

On Monday Goldstone announced a tie-up with Zee Telefilm's Mauritius subsidiary, Asia Today Ltd., to distribute Zee channels to subscribers in eight countries.

"We are in talks with other content providers but we would not like to talk about them right now," Caddell said. He also declined to reveal names of the channel partners with whom it has tied up to deliver the content on the Internet.

"IPTV is not only about television but also about the software involved in Internet Protocol and this is the synergy we are looking for with our existing line of activities," he said.

The funds would be raised through foreign currency convertible bonds and internal accruals, he said. Goldstone will set up a network operating centre in Singapore for delivering the service.

For delivering IPTV in India, Goldstone has entered into an agreement with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Services would start initially in Hyderabad, where another network operating centre would be set up.

"We will be making an announcement on this later," Caddell said.

Shares of Goldstone ended 5.05 percent higher at 73.85 rupees in the Mumbai market.