Mtnl Decides To List Its Net Arm On Nasdaq

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.(MTNL) plans to list its Internet subsidiary on the Nasdaq, the company's chairman and managing director S Rajagopalan said.

The subsidiary, Millennium Telecom, which will be located in Mumbai, was registered yesterday. "Once the subsidiary gets under way, we will be able to focus more on the Internet business, and hopefully, increase its value. We will then be able to get a far better value for the company overseas," he said. Currently, the company is focussing on MTNL's listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), scheduled for next month.

Following the creation of Millennium Telecom, Rajagopalan said a step-up in market activity could be expected, including more value-added products, better tariff packages and aggressive marketing.

On the top of the list, is the creation of a 24-hour customer care centre. MTNL is also looking to beef up its portal activity. The target for the subscriber base has been set at 100,000 each in Delhi and Mumbai within the year. Currently, MTNL has between 20,00-30,000 subscribers for its Internet service.

MTNL has also applied to the government to transfer the Internet licence held by the parent company to the subsidiary. Millennium Telecom is also obtaining a Category A licence provider, which will allow the company to provide services at the national level. The current licence held by the company is under Category B for Delhi and Mumbai.

A new CEO for Millennium Telecom would be selected by the end of this month, Rajagopalan said. He said the process was still under way, since the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) wanted more internal candidates to be scrutinised. Over 27 applications had been received, he said.

MTNL is currently marketing its services directly and through tieups with portals run by the Mid Day tabloid in Mumbai. The portal has bought connections in bulk from MTNL, which are being bundled in a special package to increase traffic to the Mid Day site. Rajagopalan said the arrangement would not eat into traffic to the MTNL site, since the path required subscribers to route through MTNL's site. Further, a MTNL window will also be present on the Mid Day portal.