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Technology Stocks : Satyam Infoway Ltd-(Nasdaq:SIFY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (1009)	3/3/2000 2:08:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1471

Sigma to Set Up Eight Internet Gateways sigmaonline.net By Uday Lal Pai India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [March 3, 2000--MUMBAI] Hyderabad-based ISP Sigma Online expects to establish eight Internet gateways by April 2000, and is planning to enlist the services of Panamsat for this purpose. The company, which started offering basic dialup Internet services in September 1999, has a Category 'A' ISP license for national-level operations. It currently has a presence in four metropolitan cities in India -- Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, and Ahmedabad. "These cities account for a large chunk of India's Internet connections. So we thought it appropriate to launch our services in them to start with," said Kota Ramesh, managing director of Sigma. With the government's decision to extend licenses to open private international gateways, Sigma has become the only ISP that will start off with as many as eight gateways. The company has drawn up plans to extend Internet services to about 30 cities in the second phase, which is expected to be achieved by April this year. Sigma plans to invest about US$6 million in the first phase, and had drawn a multi-stage development strategy for this purpose. The company, which has earmarked US$23 million and US$35 million for the second and third phases, is expected to deploy US$230 million in three years, according to Ramesh. "We also have plans to offer excess bandwidth to small ISPs and corporate houses by extending leased-line facilities," he pointed out. The project is being promoted by a group of non-resident Indians and there would be no debt element. Apart from value-added solutions, the company is planning to offer Internet access via cable networks.