(12 January 2007 7:20 pm)

MUMBAI: IOL Broadband Ltd is in the process of raising Rs 390 million through qualified institutional placement (QIP) to part-fund its IPTV roll out in new cities. Prime Securities is lead managing the issue that will close on Saturday.

"We are raising Rs 390 million which will be used for expanding into new cities," says IOL Broadband executive director Oberai.

IOL Broadband will soon soft launch its IPTV services on the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) network in Bangalore.

The company, which has a non exclusive tie up with BSNL for setting up the content delivery network, is also looking at launching IPTV in Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Bhopal.

IOL is yet to make a commercial launch of its IPTV services in MUmbai, the first city where it kickstarted operations on the MTNL network.

The company has also signed a revenue share agreement for its IPTV service with Anytime, a consortium of major Hollywood Studios comprising Disney, Fox, Warner, and Universal which will provide access to Hollywood movies.

Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), which is the holding company of the Times Group, has picked up a small stake in IOL Broadband for Rs 50 million.