Fiber to India

Category: Enron India, iNdia, Telecom data network, Fiber optic, Flag Telecom
Description: Enron India Says Company Close To Deal For Telecom Data Network
Detail:
11/29/1999
Dow Jones Business News
(Copyright © 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- U.S. energy giant Enron Corp. has signed a memorandum
of understanding with an undersea-cable operator and is in advanced
negotiations for a separate venture to build a fiber-optic telecommunications
network, Sanjay Bhatnagar, chairman and chief executive officer of Enron
India Ltd., told Dow Jones Newswires.

The two projects are central to an aggressive foray by Enron (ENE), already
known in India for its high-profile energy investments, into communications
services.

Just as it is doing in the U.S., Enron hopes to build in India a national
broadband network to improve data communications, including the use of the
Internet. Initially, Enron aims to build a high-bandwidth backbone connecting
seven large cities, each housing a data center -- a large bank of computer
servers to facilitate Internet applications, such as hosting Web sites to cut
time and cost for Indian Internet users.

Bhatnagar said that Enron has signed an MOU with FLAG Telecom, which operates
a network of submarine cables, to connect Enron's "Indian network to the
world." The first leg of that network will be a high-capacity fiber-optic
connection between India's capital, New Delhi, and the country's financial
center, Bombay. Enron is currently finalizing a joint venture with Ircon, the
construction arm of India's state-owned railways, to build and operate the
New Delhi-Bombay link.

"We are in the process of negotiating the detailed agreement," Bhatnagar
said, adding that he believes the joint venture agreement will be signed
within two months.

Ircon is to hold a 50% stake in the joint venture, with Enron, British
Telecommunications PLC (BTY) and Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
holding minority stakes.

Bhatnagar said Enron is negotiating with several potential partners, which he
declined to name, on other pieces of the Indian network. Likewise, in
addition to the Indian railways, Enron is speaking with other bodies,
including a highway authority, on gaining the right of way to lay fiber-optic
cable in other areas of India. It is also likely to team up with private
telephone networks and Internet service providers in the target cities.