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DOT.COM: STARS & STRATS What's Hot! No more broadband, now it's narrowcasting for Kolkata-based ISP, Caltiger; and Enron may soon be exiting the Indian broadband space. By Rakhi Mazumdar & Aparna Ramalingam e-lead
The marriage between Net and TV is yet to happen, so let's call this an affair. Kolkata-based ISP, Caltiger.com, has launched what it calls Net CTV, which will stream video with 'TV-like clarity' even on a 28.8 kbps modem. During the user authentication process, which can sometimes take up to 30 seconds, the Net CTV will make it possible for the ISP to air ads on the surfer's screen. The ISP will thus get a valuable narrowcasting platform that can be monetised. Caltiger is wooing corporates to sponsor content in lieu of advertisement opportunities and expects FMCG majors, and even banks to line up for the slots. The company claims it can match the surfer's psychographic and demographic profile and target specific ads at her.
Says Dhruv Sharma, Executive Director, Caltiger.com: ''It could be the beginning of convergence of TV and internet in a meaningful way. '' However, for the company, the new move comes against a murky backdrop. Caltiger has just announced that it is abandoning its ambitious Rs 800-crore project to build an inter-state fibre optic network. ''It makes very little sense for us to be there. We will concentrate on providing better services to our corporate and retail clients,'' says Sharma. But Sharma insists the decision has little to do with funds or the lack of them. Caltiger had raised Rs 2 crore in equity from the Kolkata-based Industrial Investment Bank of India (IIBI) and another Rs 10 crore as debt just last month. It is also likely to opt for another round of financing-and a further dilution of equity. ''It is a strategic consideration. Apart from funds, our partners will bring in technology and management skills,'' says Sharma. e-news
INTERVIEW Pradeep Kar, Chairman and Managing Director, Microland Group, talks to BT's Aparna Ramalingam about the group's prospects in a changing environment.
Well, we started off in 1989 as a networking company, and shifted focus in 1999-2000 to the services space. Today, we are building Microuniv.com as a technology e-services learning company. And we are leveraging our networking strengths through Innerframe, a comprehensive tech infrastructure company. In essence, we have modified our services to cater to the new economy. But revenues have continuously dropped over the last few years... We clocked Rs 180 crore in 1998-99, with almost 95 per cent from hardware sales. But in 1999, we exited from the hardware business and so our revenues in 1999-2000 dipped to Rs 60 crore. For the year ended March 2001, the figure was Rs 150 crore. From a group standpoint, we are looking at doubling that revenue for 2001-2002. Isn't the dotcom slump, which has put brakes on your plans for Indya.com and ITspace.com, the reason behind this new shift in business focus? Well, Indya was an opportunistic play that happened. This year, we want to consolidate and focus on the technology space. We can afford to play a long game since we had raised $56 million last year before the meltdown. I expect Indya.com to break even within the next three years. ITSPACE will break even this year itself. We are also moving our events business into ITSPACE. When is your IPO likely to materialise? This is a year of consolidation. We will look at an IPO next financial year. Critics say that you have no mega business success to boot... Success is relative. Only few players have managed so far to transform from hardware play into being a services company like us. Very few have been able to launch the number of businesses that we have launched over the last two years. Surfing back @Net time, to April 1996
Well, baby, Rediff was simply not the right choice. Though Pepsi, for its part, describes its association with Yahoo!, a co-branded youth sub-channel, Pepsizone, as part of a global realignment, the fact of the matter is that there was little action on the channel it had launched with Rediff last year. Pepsizone is the typical youth portal: music, movies, careers, cricket, and a host of happening stuff. ''We are really taking this very seriously,'' says a Pepsi spokesperson. What about Coke? Does it plan something similar? Says Neeraj Roy, CEO, Hungama.com: ''The Pepsi idea is a duplication of what we did for Coke 15 months ago.'' Still Pepsi has managed to get attention with its high-decibel campaign. And that's what matters. -Shamni
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So now Microland is a tech
infrastructure company...