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

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (10139)	12/20/1999 1:18:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Mantra Online in talks with Hindustan Lever to expand user base Bharti BT bhartibt.com Mantra Online mantraonline.com Hindustan Lever hll.com (Tuesday, December 21, 1999-bs) Our Special Correspondent in New Delhi Mantra Online is in talks with Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) for a tie-up to expand its subscriber base. N Arjun, chief executive officer, Bharati BT Internet Ltd confirmed that talks were on but declined to divulge any details. The company is also expanding its equity by Rs 40 crore to Rs 72 crore. HLL is in the process of building its consumer databank through the Internet and is talking to service providers including Mantra Online for wooing netizens to respond to their queries on consumer products. "We are talking to them for offering such services," Arjun said. He stated that Bharti has tied up with Wincable in Mumbai and is talking to other cable operators for providing Internet services through the cable network. "We have decided to tie up with Wincable and are talking to other cable operators. The cable business in India is very unorganised. We are discussing the issue with various cable associations," he said. The company will expand its equity capital from the current Rs 32 crore to Rs 72 crore with both partners -- British Telecom and Bharti Enterprises -- bringing in the necessary equity in proportion to their respective holdings of 51 per cent and 49 per cent. "We are expanding our equity base. The money will be used to expand our subscriber base over the next few months. We are also not averse to the idea of acquiring existing portals or websites for enhancing the content of our ISP service. We recently acquired a site called teenfunda.com. We are also talking to two more sites. One is a games site and another is a lifestyle website," he added. The company is also in the process of finalising its vendor for its master gateway to be set up near Delhi. "We will set up a master gateway near Gurgaon for Rs 15 crore. For the satellite link up, we are planning to choose a vendor from Lockheed Martin, Panamsat, Teleglobe and British Telecommunication," Arjun said. He said that the ISP business in the country has not reached a stage where the service provider can give computers free in return for a contract with the subscriber. "It is very difficult to enforce such a contract in India. Currently, our revenue can be only from Net advertising and through subscriptions. We believe such a service is still a year away," he added. The company will also roll out set-top boxes for Internet services through the cable operators by April 1, 2000.