Bpl Telecom Blueprint To Be Major Isp

BPL Telecom, part of the Rs 3,000-crore BPL group, has chalked out plans to be a major Internet service provider (ISP). The company has decided to focus on the SOHO (small office - home office) market for Internet service and will leverage on its brand equity in this segment. The service is likely to be provided under the brand `BPL Net', though other names are also being considered.

The BPL group had initially planned to spin the service off as a separate company, but this is not likely to take immediate effect.

BPL Telecom will primarily focus on nine cities, including the metros, Bangalore and four other places where BPL operates its cellular services. "Out major USP is the brand name and we will be reaching out to the target audience mainly through cable TV," a senior official of the BPL group said.

The company is also in the final stages of tying up with a US-based major for TV set-top box technology.

"Taking this step of offering Internet service through cable TV is a logical extension for us. In this way, we make sure we sell more TV sets in addition to the Internet service," the official noted.

"We feel that we have the required distribution network to reach out to the target audience and can package the Internet service attractively through our cellular service billing network," the official added.

The group is also exploring logical extensions of this field such as electronic commerce, content providing, and also related services such as selling space on the Net.

"Our software wing will be involved extensively in this venture and we hope to be among the top ISPs in the country along with Satyam Computers which is also planning a major foray in this sector," the BPL official added.