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.