Net4India sets up WiFi shop

Asim Raina & Karma Negi

NEW DELHI: Delhi-based IP communications service provider, Net 4 India Ltd has now branched out into the hardware segment also. The company, which has traditionally been a service provider, is now hawking a whole range of Wi-Fi products including access points, PCMCIA cards etc. Net4India CEO, Jasjit Sawhney called it a "backward integration" as these products complement the company's existing services.

And to emphasize the seriousness of this new foray, Net4India has even changed its tagline. The earlier tagline "The Internet Services That Mean Business" has now been replaced by "Think Net. Think Net4India."

To give an added focus to the new product line, Net4India has set up a hardware products group that would be looking specifically after this segment. Already, close to 20 system integrators have been signed up in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. These 20 in turn are selling to end customers as well as to other resellers.

Interestingly, the company has not appointed any of the major SIs for its products but tier two players, as according to Sawhney, its focus remains on the brand and are not able to justify the smaller brands. Some of the SIs appointed are Ultima Computech, DC Infotech, Benchmark Systems, Neon Systems, Webcom and Sanver E-solutions.

He added, "We are giving these SIs discounts on the prevalent market prices and they can make margins in between. I can say that they will be able to make more margins than in other products." At the same time, Sawhney claimed that though he won't call his products as cheapest in the market but in terms of range he has a lot to offer.

Net4India is also looking at launching WiMAX-enabled products very shortly. It will be launching its products in all the three standards of 802.11a, b and g. "Most of the time people are confused as to which standard they require, therefore we have bundled all the standards in one," pointed out Sawhney.

He is also contemplating about launching Wi-Fi cards for the PCs. "Rather than changing the PC for a laptop, we can have cards for it, which can be put in the PC slot. This will definitely see a greater volume and the channels too are excited about this concept," he explained.

Net4India has also started exporting these Wi-Fi products to other countries like UK and Israel through a trading outpost, which has been established in Dubai. Close to 2,000 pieces are being exported every month.

To establish itself as a leading player in the fast-growing Wi-Fi market, Net4India will aggressively start its brand building initiative through advertisements, channel promotions, seminars etc from April onwards.

By jumping into the hardware bandwagon, Sawhney is of the opinion that definitely in coming times the company will increase its hardware products but only in voice-related enterprise space.

Net4India's operations include broadband Internet, IP telephony and hosting services, with successful brands including `Net4Domains' and ‘Phonewala'. The company operates its Internet Data Center facilities in six cities and hosts close to 75,000 websites.

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