Reliance Comm to double Net users via mobiles

Reliance Communications is planning to promote mobile phones as a substitute for wireline dial-up internet services in the country to double the number of its internet subscribers.

The communications provider, apart from being the largest CDMA operator, is also the largest wireless internet service provider in the country with over 5 lakh subscribers. It also has a wireless data card subscriber base of 1.5 lakh users, comprising over 60 per cent of the country's total market share.

"With a conservative estimate of converting over 4 per cent of the addressable captive subscriber base to internet data usage over the next five months, the company intends to achieve over 3 lakh internet subscribers.

A large section of the retail internet subscribers is served through FWP and fixed phones, which the company expects will move over to mobile phones," a source close to the development said.

The company has around 24.25 million CDMA subscribers in the country and close to 8 million subscribers have handsets that can access the net.

Meanwhile, the company is also looking at giving a major impetus to its wireless data cards, 'R Connect'.

The company is planning to increase the sales of these cards, which at present sell at around 12,000-14,000 units a month. Reliance Communications has tied up with laptop manufacturers, such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM-Lenevo and HCL, for the sales of these cards.

The company expects the tie-up to help it double the sales of its 'R Connect' cards to 28,000 units a month.

The internet penetration in the country is mainly concentrated in the top 10 cities, amounting to almost 70 per cent of the total users. Reliance is also looking at taking internet to the rural areas in the country.