C & W, Mci Worldcom Eye 5-10% In Bses Telecom

Telecom majors Cable & Wireless (C&W) and MCI Worldcom are in the race to pick up around 5-10 per cent equity stake in BSES TeleCom, the wholly owned subsidiary of power utility company BSES.

BSES TeleCom, through the alliance, is expecting to source technological know-how and other expertise from the foreign company to set up a broadband network in the city.

Though discussions are at an advance stage with these firms, which will be the final partner is yet to be known. Industry sources say C&W could be the ally for the venture.

Following the alliance, BSES TeleCom is planning to increase its bandwidth capacity to 655 mbps from the present 8 mbps. Currently, it has an alliance with Videsh Sanchar Nigam for 8 mbps and another deal with C&W for 2 mbps.

Senior BSES TeleCom officials, confirming the development, said: "The talks are on with these two firms." However, officials declined to divulge details about the total investment being offered by the strategic partner for the project.

According to industry sources, C&W is also looking at buying some premises in Mumbai and Chennai.

As part of its Internet expansion plans, BSES will inject around Rs 340 crore into the telecommunication subsidiary over a two-year period. BSES TeleCom is planning to achieve a one-lakh customer-base by the end of March 2002 and another three lakh in three years. The company will start laying optic fibre cable in the city by December.

BSES Telecom is planning to make use of higher bandwidth to offer multimedia services, video-on-demand, e-application, e-services, broadband services, web-hosting, lease line and web-designing in addition to its Internet service provider (ISP) activities.

To set up around 1,000 Internet kiosks in the city on its optic fibre backbone, the company has already entered into a 51:49 joint venture with Sriven Multitech, a Hyderabad-based ISP.

BSES TeleCom has unveiled its ISP service -- Powersurfer.com -- in the city and plans to launch ISP services, including broadband access, in New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Calcutta by mid-2001.