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Murdoch dips into fibre-optic
network: Alliances on the card
Murdoch mania still is hot in
town as speculation about what he really intends to do in
the Indian market rising to a fever pitch. He had a rash
of meetings on 14 March with top brass industrialists and
other prominent political personalities.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and he discussed
the possibilities of investment in the Infotech and telecom
area. Ministerial sources disclosed his intentions to set
up a state-of-the-art fibre optic telecom carrier network
in Mumbai. A possible partner for this project is InCable
which has been laying a fibre optic network in the city.
Star TV does not have any investments in cable TV distribution,
having sold out its holdings in Siticable to Zee TV. The
fibre optic project will l cater to Murdoch's Infotech dreams
in India and facilitate e-commerce and e-education and create
tremendous job opportunities, ministerial sources said.
Murdoch also met up with MTNL and VSNL executives at the
Ministerial meeting. MTNL, the state telecom provider MTNL
which has a strong optic-fibre backbone and Hughes Ispat
which also is rolling out its network over the city.
The Chief
Minister, wanting investments in the state, also assured
Murdoch that News Corp's proposal to set up an entertainment
programming studio will be cleared within a month's time.
News Corp plans to invest around $100 million in this area
alone. The commercial capital of India seems to have impressed
Murdoch as he identified the tremendous potential in this
city.
It is now the time of Delhi for big announcements where
Murdoch will hold high-profile meetings.
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