RIL plans US foray to sell music, movies

Reliance Infocomm will roll out its enterprise and convergence services in the US by 2005, after they become operational in India by the first quarter of 2004, Reliance Entertainment Ltd chairman Amit Khanna told PTI in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The company expects to launch what it calls 'Enterprise Netway Revolution' in the US probably by the beginning of 2005 to help the Indian diaspora to watch Indian movies, listen to music and conduct a host of other activities, sitting in the comfort of their homes, Khanna said.

With a large non-resident Indian population, the American market is one of the richest in the world, he added.

The company will enhance its presence in the US by actively pursuing its broadband and International Long Distance dreams in the country, apart from offering other digital subscriber-based services, he added.

"We plan to set up switches in New York and Los Angles, which will help in covering the entire country," Khanna said. At a later stage, the company would opt for advanced e-commerce including selling traditional Indian food and other items over its broadband connection.

Reliance Infocomm, which has a tie-up with over 35 telephone providers in the US, has a US international long distance telephony license, which would help it in pursuing the broadband dreams in the country.

In India, Reliance Infocomm is ready with its data-centres, managed network services, and a host of applications like GIS (Geographic Information System), vehicle monitoring system, broadband wi-fi applications, videoconferencing solutions, mobile ATMs, fixed wireless ATMs using CDMA, and VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol).

By the end of 2003, the time would be ripe for consumer convergence revolution and the company would provide high speed Ethernet links to 80 million homes initially and eventually to every home.

The service would help in providing an entire range of television channels, high-speed telephony, audio conferencing, videoconferencing and video-on-demand.