The company's name did not figure in the list of 47 which had applied for the licence before the ISP policy was spelt out. Bharti BT was "waiting and watching", pending the declaration of the policy, according to sources.

DoT is likely to sign the agreement with the company later this week, sources said. Confirming this, British Telecom vice-president Ravi Sharma said Bharti BT was fully optimistic of getting the licence. After that, it might apply for necessary security clearances for setting up its own gateways.

The 51:49 company hopes to be able to launch services in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore by March and later cover other key cities. It has set aside Rs 50 crore as initial investment.

It aims to segregate the market into segments like retail, corporate and smallbusinesses and devise separate strategies. The corporates and corporate internet accounts will receive more focus. The company is aiming to sign up 20,000 subscribers in the first year.

BT India already has a joint venture with Bharti in the V-Sat business. That will help it expand the base on one hand and use V-Sat links for connectivity on the other. The company also aims to tap the multimedia market.

Bharti BT Internet expects to be among the top players in the field which will not only have the financial muscle to stay in the market on a long-term basis, but will also be able to provide a very superior service, claimed Sharma.

A decision about the tariffs has not yet been taken, the BT official said. Pricing will be driven by the market and we will be very competitive, he maintained. However, most ISPs are likely to peg the rates close to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd's existing rates, he felt, and added that in the long-term, neither technology nor tariffs will determine market leadership as others arebound to catch up sooner or later.

The company will offer a wide range of products and services including foundation level access products for dial-up access to the Net via PSTN, ISDN and leased lines, value-added services such as e-mail, web access, basic web hosting, news groups and chat groups.

In addition, sophisticated value-added services such as internets, virtual private networks, roaming, complex web hosting and e-commerce services will also be introduced within the first year.

``Service and value-addition is what will drive the market eventually, not just plain vanilla access, which just about anybody can provide and which will distinguish wheat from the chaff,'' according to him.

Bharti BT's cutting edge, of course, will be the British Telecom's worldwide standards and the services provided abroad. The telecom major offers a plethora of value-added services on the Net in the UK where it is the number two player with 27 per cent marketshare. ``Depending on the market growth and response, wewill introduce the services from BT Internet UK as well,'' said Sharma.

BT Internet UK offers a range of interesting services such as Wireplay which provides real-time games and Campus World which links various campuses.