Says Jain Internet CEO Mr Ramesh Awtaney: ``We're setting up huge facilities for free Internet access. We will go for ISDN and lease line licence. We are also contemplating digital subscriber line.''

With a bulk of its investments devoted to developing the ISP business, Jain Internet is adding 2,000 more ports by the year-end to its existing base of 5,000. The company is aiming at one lakh subscribers by March 2001. With a port to subscriber ratio of 1:13, which is competitive against industry's average of around 1:25 to 1: 30, the ISP company is planning to leverage its base of 50,000 ports, which can handle up to 650,000 Free Dial In subscribers. The free Internet package comes with a one-time registration of Rs 500.

``We are targeting a revenue of Rs 15 crore in the truncated fiscal 2000-01 and around Rs 40 crore in 2001-02,'' says Mr Awtaney. The division expects bandwidth sales and payment gateways to account for around 60 per cent of sales in the first year, which will come down to around 50 per cent in the second year with Web-hosting, e-commerce and ad sales gaining momentum.

Jain Internet is also readying to raise between Rs 60 crore and Rs 100 crore in the short term to beef up its operations in Internet infrastructure, data centeres, teleports, call centeres, and free ISP expansion across the country. Earlier, HP India extended a finance of Rs 45 crore to the project, which kicked off in July 2000.

Says Mr Awtaney: ``We will be forging a strategic alliance with a world major in the next quarter.'' Jain Internet has so far secured alliance of IT majors like HP (for servers) and Cisco (for network).

Jain Internet has also kicked off its data center operations (Free Dial In happens to be its first user). The company will initially set up an infrastructure of around 25,000 sqft - though it has permission to go for 6.5-lakh sqft data-centre, which will be next to the world's biggest data center of 7 lakh sqft. In the field of payment gateways -it has tied up with HDFC - the company is targeting to sell payment solutions to 400 corporates, which will be a mix of portal and physical companies, in the next 12 months.

Anticipating that bandwidth scarcity will persist for at least the next three years, Jain Internet will leverage its asset of 400 MBPS. With investment of over Rs 20 crore in its teleport, which is said to be the country's largest private sector one, Jain Internet will offer 45 MBPS in the first phase. ``Ours is a bandwidth factory and we are the only ISP who can provide video uplinking mode," he added. The company will also finalise in the next couple of months its ISP clients - it is likely to target multiple companies to maximise its bandwidth sales.

Beginning with Delhi, the company will launch its call centers in sync with its national roll-out plan.

Beginning January 2001, the company is also starting call centres as third party profit activity. ``A three-shift 100-seat call centre should give us revenues of Rs 1 crore a month,'' says Mr Awtaney. It will offer end-to-end solution (like chat, fax, e-mail and phone response) for third parties in the US and Europe. In the first phase it will set up a 100-seat call centre (which can handle 100 calls at a time), and in the second phase it will be increased to 250 seats.

To make its ISP package more comprehensive, the company will also add a medical portal shortly to its six portals.