The Hindu Business Line : Bharti Infotel bullish on broadband data space

BHARTI Infotel Ltd is bullish on the customised broadband value-added services and enterprise data applications business and expects a significant push from banking and financial services, IT, ITES and the enterprise segments.

The Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Infotel, Broadband and Data Group, Mr. Rajiv Sharma, told Business Line that "the IT services and ITES segments covering call centres have both been quite large for the past couple of years and Bharti has taken leadership in these business solutions. Moving forward, we anticipate significant ramp-up happening in the Government and the public sector undertakings (PSUs), services and the SME segments."

" This year onwards, we are expanding our thrust into these new segments."

Mr Sharma said "the penetration of broadband is quite low now. Broadband is a pre-requisite for driving value-addition such as music and video."

"As broadband penetration improves, you will find a host of content and applications - both chargeable and free - being created."

Referring to constraints, Mr. Sharma explained "the penetration levels continue to be low due to costs and last mile issues. Last mile remains a major impediment both on the wireline and wireless fronts. Not enough frequency bands are available. Then, if you look at the VSAT space, high component costs continue to hamper volume growth there."

"Further, this situation is exacerbated by the fact that there is no open skies policy.

If some of these issues were tackled, you can expect a large number of current Internet users migrating to broadband," he explained.

Estimates suggest that the enterprise data market is poised for growth.

Trends indicate lower costs would spur further activity even in DSL (digital subscriber loop) connections.

"In Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai and Bangalore, we have garnered over 70,000 users covering large and medium enterprises that includes IT services companies and banks. The data business in the country, currently estimated at about Rs 3,000 crore, is projected to grow to about Rs 5,000 crore by next year," he explained.