As part of its strategy to roll out a state-of-the-art national fibre optic cable network, the Reliance group has leased office space at India's Silicon Valley, Bangalore. The move is part of its initiatives in the ICE segment under its convergence division called Reliance Infocom.
According to the latest report of global real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield, Reliance has leased approximately 18,000 square feet of office space at Khanija Bhavan at Race Course Road in Bangalore. The space reportedly has been taken at a gross effective rent of Rs 50 per square feet. The fibre optic network at Bangalore will be primarily laid underground and along the overhead power transmission lines in Karnataka. This would have made Reliance the second company in this arena after power major Enron.
At the latest annual general meeting of the company, Reliance chairman Dhirubhai Ambani had announced the company's intentions of providing a "world class, all optic, Internet protocol-based broadband network in India which would provide for more than 50 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)".
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The company's broadband network and Internet data centres would offer advanced applications in e-commerce, media-casting, web-hosting and managed software services.
Ambani had stated then that Reliance expects to complete its investments in the Infocam venture in the next 24 months. The company is reportedly in talks with leading global companies who wanted to partner it in its infocom initiative.
The group has plans, not only to build Internet infrastructure but also to create advanced, facility-based bandwidth in the country.
Meanwhile, the Cushman & Wakefield report also states the proliferation of technology parks in Bangalore has led to large investment proposals from infrastructure developers.