The Hindu Business Line : Cisco rolls out NOW in Pune

Targeting 10,000 people in 50 cities in the country, Cisco has rolled out the `Network on Wheels' (NOW) campaign in Pune on Thursday for the small and medium businesses.

Talking to presspersons, Mr Jagdish Mahapatra, Business Development Manager of Commercial (ITS), Cisco Systems India and SAARC, said this was one of the largest marketing initiatives for Cisco India. NOW is a mobile showcase of customised Cisco networking solutions in areas of security, wireless, and unified IP communications.

He said the mobile van would move across different locations and host live demonstrations for more than 100 customers per city.

Mr Mahapatra said it was targeting more than 500 customers in Pune. He said India was the only market outside of the US and Canada, where the NOW has been launched.

Mr Mahapatra noted that as per an Access Markets International (AMI) Partners study, there are an estimated 7.6 million SMBs in the country and these SMBs are set to spend $500 million to better their services and networking technology.

He pointed out that the estimates were that 29 per cent have personal computers, 20 per cent have Internet access and 13 per cent have local area network, as compared to the US where 93 per cent of the small business had PCs, 81 per cent have Internet access and 39 per cent are on LAN.

He pointed out that only 16 per cent of all Indian PC-owning small businesses have some form of high-speed Internet access, which is in contrast with other Asian counterparts like China and South Korea, which enjoy 46 per cent and 92 per cent broadband penetration, respectively.

Indian SMBs are set to spend $1.2 billion to better their Internet and networking infrastructure in 2006, which is 16 per cent of the total IT spend projected for FY 2006. Increase in broadband usage is expected to be an important factor and also enhancing usage of IP-based technologies like IP PBX, VoIP and even Internet access through cellular phones and handhelds, he added.