Subject: Fiber to India
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Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:29:00 -0800 (PST)

Category:	Enron India, iNdia, Telecom data network, Fiber optic, Flag Telecom
Description:	Enron India Says Company Close To Deal For Telecom Data Network
Detail:	
11/29/1999 
Dow Jones Business News 
(Copyright (c) 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- U.S. energy giant Enron Corp. has signed a memorandum 
of understanding with an undersea-cable operator and is in advanced 
negotiations for a separate venture to build a fiber-optic telecommunications 
network, Sanjay Bhatnagar, chairman and chief executive officer of Enron 
India Ltd., told Dow Jones Newswires. 

The two projects are central to an aggressive foray by Enron (ENE), already 
known in India for its high-profile energy investments, into communications 
services.

Just as it is doing in the U.S., Enron hopes to build in India a national 
broadband network to improve data communications, including the use of the 
Internet. Initially, Enron aims to build a high-bandwidth backbone connecting 
seven large cities, each housing a data center -- a large bank of computer 
servers to facilitate Internet applications, such as hosting Web sites to cut 
time and cost for Indian Internet users. 

Bhatnagar said that Enron has signed an MOU with FLAG Telecom, which operates 
a network of submarine cables, to connect Enron's "Indian network to the 
world." The first leg of that network will be a high-capacity fiber-optic 
connection between India's capital, New Delhi, and the country's financial 
center, Bombay. Enron is currently finalizing a joint venture with Ircon, the 
construction arm of India's state-owned railways, to build and operate the 
New Delhi-Bombay link. 

"We are in the process of negotiating the detailed agreement," Bhatnagar 
said, adding that he believes the joint venture agreement will be signed 
within two months. 

Ircon is to hold a 50% stake in the joint venture, with Enron, British 
Telecommunications PLC (BTY) and Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. 
holding minority stakes. 

Bhatnagar said Enron is negotiating with several potential partners, which he 
declined to name, on other pieces of the Indian network. Likewise, in 
addition to the Indian railways, Enron is speaking with other bodies, 
including a highway authority, on gaining the right of way to lay fiber-optic 
cable in other areas of India. It is also likely to team up with private 
telephone networks and Internet service providers in the target cities.