MRO-TEK expands facility to manufacture digital modems in India

BANGALORE: The Rs 35-crore MRO-TEK Ltd., based in Bangalore and the only
manufacturer of modems in India, will shortly start manufacturing digital modems
too. The company, which has a tie-up with the Israel-based RAD Data
Communications for digital modems, has invested Rs 30 lakh to expand its
manufacturing capability to manufacture RAD’s ASM-20 and ASM-31 digital modems
at its plant in Electronics City, Bangalore. MRO TEK, which has been
distributing a range of digital, ISDN and dial-up modems besides selling
multiplexers in the market, claims to have 90 per cent of the 15,000 units a
year market for digital modems. Its decision to invest in manufacturing the two
models in India is expected to improve the company’s delivery efficiency.

According to S. Narayanan, chairman and managing director, MRO-TEK, "We
will be able to improve upon the current delivery schedule of 50 pairs in 48
hours to delivering 100 pairs in 48 hours." Besides, MRO TEK also hopes to
benefit from being able to meet the local conditions and requirements, which is
not possible when importing them. The ASM-20 is a short-range modem operating at
selectable rates from 19.2 kbps to 256 kbps full or half duplex over twisted
pair, unconditioned lines. It has a range of 7.5 km at 64 kbps. The ASM-20
features diagnostic capabilities complying with the V.54 standard to perform
local and remote loopbacks. It has line protection circuits against lightning
and power surges. It is available as a stand-alone unit or as a card for a
19" rack holding up to 14 cards.

The ASM-31 is a synchronous/asynchronous short-range modem and operates full
duplex over a 2-wire twisted pair. The ASM-31 can operate at selectable data
rates from 600 bps to 128 kbps. Local and remote loopbacks can be set from
either end of the line, to test both modems and the line. Loopbacks are
controlled by a manual switch or from the DTE interface. Both the modems will be
priced at around Rs 1 lakh, not substantially lower than the current prices.
Says Narayanan, "If the government brings down the components duty to zero,
we will be able to bring down the price substantially besides, of course,
helping the cause of manufacturers." Despite the above, the company hopes
that the manufacture of ASM-20 and ASM-31 will help increase its revenue by 30
per cent.

The additional plant facility will also be used to manufacture multiplexers,
ISDN terminal units, 2-wire leased low cost, low speed modems besides the two
digital modems. Adds Narayanan, "Apart from developing digital modems in
India, we are also working on LAN interface modems and we are planning to
release this product in three months". The company, which has a touched a
turnover of Rs 60 crore for nine months ended December 1999, is hopeful of
reaching its projected turnover of Rs 80 crore by March 2000. The company, which
also has a tie up with Zyxel for analog modems, will, in all probability, go
public in May 2000.