Clarent, which went public in the USA in July 1999, is aiming to be the leader in VOIP products and has a manufacturing tie-up with D-Link worldwide. Interestingly, India will be the only country where Clarent will also allow `transfer of technology' to D-Link which will also undertake localisation of software for the domestic market.

When asked about the targeted sales in India, Clarent director business development Matthew Chiang refused to disclose a figure saying it was an internal target, but added that India was being looked upon as a large market. The company has 27 offices and subsidiaries the world over, but Chiang denied any plan to set up a direct presence in India in the immediate future. He also denied any plan to extend the relationship with D-Link into a joint venture later.

``Clarent's solutions enable interconnection among communication service providers' disparate networks and foster the creation of global footprints for more than 260 telecom service providers worldwide, including AT&T, NTT and China telecom. Our software platform encourages innovation by allowing carriers to develop limitless new features for consumers and enterprises,'' said Chiang.

Enumerating the benefits of VOIP, Chaing said: ``Only IP-based networks can offer personalised telephony services for each person in an office or family. Such things are not possible under a circuit-switched network. Later, we will offer mobile e-commerce based on IP-based networks also,'' added Chiang.