The Hindu Business Line : Reliance Info Ethernet to go on stream in 7 weeks

RELIANCE Infocomm's much-vaunted metro-Ethernet broadband project is likely to be launched with "a complete suite of broadband applications," across all the major cities in six to seven weeks.

And with this, Reliance Infocomm — which initially procured fixed service licences, but does not have a single live wireline in the country though it boasts of 6 million mobile subscribers — will launch its wireline telephony services as well, Mr Prakash Bajpai, President, Reliance Infocomm, told Business Line on the sidelines of a recent seminar on Communications Convergence in the city.

This network will carry voice, data, interactive services, television material and videostreaming, and offer the end-user a minimum capacity of 1 Gbps that can go up to tens of Gbps, said Mr Bajpai. Should the project go according to expectations, other Reliance officials felt it could squeeze out all other television cable, Internet access, videoconferencing and such businesses. Pricing was still being worked upon, they said.

Reliance Infocomm's metro Ethernet consists of fibre going right up to clusters of multi-residential or multi-office buildings (more than 1,000 of these clusters in the first phase), with Ethernet switches connecting the fibre to users in the buildings. The company plans to target around 1 million buildings, both commercial and residential. "When all the phases are complete, it could be the largest such metro Ethernet network in the world, said Mr Bajpai.

According to the President, broadband penetration in the country is just 0.02 per cent and Reliance's broadband project would tap this unexplored market at a much lower cost than existing broadband suppliers do.

One of the key kind of applications lies in the interactive variety. Videoconferencing and multi-branch office interconnectivity would allow the all-India offices of one company to function like one office, telecommunications-wise. According to Mr Bajpai, 8,000 developers have already produced around 1,500 applications for Reliance Infocomm.

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