Aksh Optifibre to invest US$100mn in IPTV project with BSNL

August 6, 2008 - Indian firm Aksh Optifibre is planning to invest US$100mn in its joint venture with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to deploy IPTV services in 20 cities in the regions of Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (west), according to local reports.

K S Choudhary, Managing Director of Aksh Optifibre, commented that the company is targeting a subscriber base of 500,000 in the next three years: "[IPTV] technology allows the use of internet, telephone and television at the same time...  It's difficult to ascertain the business dynamics of this highly volatile segment. We already have more than 7,000 subscribers in New Delhi and Mumbai where we are offering iControl on broadband network of MTNL."

Under the terms of its agreement with BSNL, Aksh Optifibre needs to have 10,000 IPTV subscribers within the next nine months across 20 cities, however it is reportedly confident that it can reach this number.  Aksh concluded a GDR/FCCB issue of US$40mn in January of this year to finance the IPTV and VoIP services in Delhi and Mumbai.

G K Aggarwal, Chief General Manager, Rajasthan circle for BSNL, added that the services will be available to other cities of Rajasthan in next two months. "We would be able to roll out IPTV services in major cities like Jodhpur, Alwar, Kota, Udaipur and Ajmer in the second phase," he said.