Reliance Infocomm to expand R-Connect's reach

PUNE: After registering a 70 percent jump in data business for the past four months, Reliance Infocomm is now targeting the fast growing laptop market with wireless data cards — ready-to-use- R-Connect Internet connectivity.






R-Connect is a Reliance service platform to provide connectivity at download speeds of 144 kbps. The products can be used as wireless modems to connect to the Internet from PCs, laptops and hand-held devices.





India currently has an installed base of 12 million desktop computers and the current base of laptops is around 0.5 million. The data usage facilities of the company clocked 333 million minutes per month as on March 31, 2005 and the data revenue touched Rs 14 crore during March 2005.





Reliance Maharashtra & Goa circle business head Dinesh Gulati said that the company is targeting 50 percent of the country's laptop users by December this year. "During the first phase of expansion, Reliance covered 2,500 towns and cities. The second phase of expansion should see another 5,700 towns being covered under the Reliance network. The Maharashtra & Goa circle registered 115 percent growth in the last financial year," he added.





As part of the R-Connect promotional activity, Reliance Infocomm has designed a mobile van demonstrating R Connect products and services. The mobile van is part of the 90 day road-shows planned in this circle.





Gulati said that the company has already doubled the sales of its wireless cards from 500 in March 2005. The company has entered into strategic tie-ups with Intel, IBM, LG, HCL, E Sys, Citibank, ICICI Bank and Jet Airways. He added that around 48 percent of computer users surf the Internet and this section is growing. "As compared to China, however, India still has a long way to go. India has over 12 million Internet users as compared to 70 million Internet users in China, thus offering a huge untapped potential," he observed.