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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ratan lal who wrote (9830)	11/29/1999 11:42:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Bharti BT Eyes Nasdaq, Targets 70K Users by March Ratan: Keep an eye on these boys, should be quite profitable if we can get in there at the right time. As for SIFY I have trading it since the IPO quite profitably,still hold a chuck I bought at in the 50s, I even bought some at some at 100 something at today's low for a quick trade. Keep an eye on that Gaurav Dhillon's company Informatica (INFA), I posted an article about him and his company the other day. Very thin float and profitable from the get go is what I hear, have to do some more reading on it. ======================= By Uday Lal Pai India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [November 29, 1999--INDIA] Bharti BT Internet is currently evaluating a Nasdaq listing. The company, a 51:49 joint-venture ISP by Bharti Enterprises and British Telecom plc, has targeted 70,000 customers by March 2000 for its Internet service ManthraOnline. Bharti BT has not yet taken a firm decision for Nasdaq listing, but CEO N Arjun said, "This is obviously a very good time to float an Internet stock. The success of Satyam Infoway (Nasdaq:SIFY) is encouraging". Arjun said the firm was interested in an IPO in the United States and a listing on the Nasdaq, but a decision on such a move would have to be made by the shareholders of the JV partners. "It makes more sense for an Internet firm to be listed on the Nasdaq than in India. For us, it would take at least 12 months to do so [list in India]." The company launched ManthraOnline in May this year and currently reports a user base of 46,000 customers (paid users: 35,000) in eight locations. "We should have 70,000 customers by March 2000, which is about 12 per cent of the total market", Arjun said:" We have been adding about 6,000 new customers every month." Apart from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, Bharti BT is present via a franchise agreement in five cities in Madhay Pradesh, where sister concern Bharti Telenet operates a fixed-line network. Plans are underway to launch services in Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Services will be expanded in 15 locations. The company is hoping to consolidate operations by bringing Category C ISP licensees, who normally operate in a local area, under the Bharti BT umbrella. Arjun says that the company had applied for clearances to set up its own Internet gateway and was expecting the green light by this month. "If we get all the clearances on time, we should be able to launch the gateway in March", he added. "In two years' time, we want to be one of the top four ISPs in terms of customer base, and one of the top five Internet portals in the country." he said. Regarding the total Internet market size in India, Arjun said: "We expect the total number of subscribers in the country to reach half a million by March and double that number next year. But a 100 per cent growth may not be sustainable after that."