Mantra Online to set up international gateway

By Our Staff reporter

CHENNAI, APRIL 28. Mantra Online, an Internet service provider (ISP), has launched its Internet services in the city. Already, it has been offering its services in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, besides 12 cities in Madhya Pradesh. It plans to include Hyderabad and Calcutta shortly.

Mantra Online is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and British Telecom. Bharti BT Internet Ltd., which owns Mantra Online, has invested Rs. 50 crores in equity and plans to invest another Rs. 50 crores in the first phase of its expansion.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mr. N. Arjun, CEO, Bharti-BT Internet, said Mantra Online had been awarded the licence to set up a ku-band international gateway in India by the Department of Telecommunications (DOT). It has a subscriber base of over 70,000.

Mr. Arjun said Mantra Online was also providing the private key number (PKN) in association with the Ventures Infotek Group - a player in e-commerce transactions in the offline world. The PKN system helps users make purchases on the Internet without feeling insecure about their money.

Mantra Online would be covering 17 more cities in the first half of this year. It also plans to initiate a pilot project on broadband access to the Internet in New Delhi on an experimental basis. The project would encompass both DSL and cable-wire access. The objective, Mr. Arjun said, was to determine the long- term suitability of these systems for Indian conditions.

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Section  : Business
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