Connect invests Rs 1,450 cr in Punjab

Connect, the first private fixed-line service provider in Punjab, will soon roll out broadband DSL (digital subscriber line) in the state.

Chief Operating Officer Surinder Lunia has said broadband connectivity would bring about an IT revolution in the state. This new package would offer a fixed-line telephone connection, an Internet connection, and a cable television connection at an affordable price, he added. In the DSL system, one can talk and surf together, and hence there is no need for an extra telephone line.

The company has invested Rs 1,300 crore in infrastructure in the past three years and will spend Rs 150 crore more.

Connect has laid about 2,000 kilometres of optical fibre in Punjab as part of its infrastructure expansion. The firm has 2 million fixed-line customers in Punjab, and the number is growing at 5"�8 per cent a year.

Subscribers can now save on telephone bills because they will have to pay only for data transfer and not for the entire time logged on to the Internet.

As compared to a speed of 35"�45 kilobytes per second in dial-up connections, DSL offers speed varying between 250 kilobytes per second and 8 megabytes per second. The necessary equipment is affordable.

"The number of mobile subscribers has been increasing exponentially in Punjab. Still, fixed-line phones can never become obsolete. In terms of use, they are four times ahead of the mobile," Lunia said.

"Now, with the Internet and cable television becoming a way of life in Punjab, DSL technology has tremendous scope," he added.

The company's revenue was Rs 280 crore and operating profit Rs 80 crore in 2003-04. Connect expects to have 250,000 DSL subscribers by the end of 2004, and 300,000 by March next year.

Competition was not a problem because of the fast-expanding market, Lunia said. The size of the market in Punjab did not allow one player to serve all the customers, he added.

"Connect had no plans to foray into other states. This will give flexibility in decision making," Lunia added.

Connect is providing infrastructure to Spice, Hutch, and partly to the Tatas, in Punjab.

"Our infrastructure can serve us for 20 years. Just around 15 per cent of it has been utilised," Lunia said.