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Planetasia.com

Microland starts an Internet business solutions company.

Microland and TDICI, a venture capital company, have Rs 50 million equity investment in Planetasia.com. To begin with, over 55 professionals will man the operation; though the staff may rise to 100 by March 1998 across its offices in seven cities.

T O D A Y

• Planetasia.com • Nokia's biggest order • NIIT incentive scheme • Samsung to sell PCs

TDICI has a 47.8 per cent stake in Planetasia.com. Microland and its employees own the rest.

Microland Chairman Pradeep Kar told a press conference in Bangalore that ``Planetasia.com is an important step in the evolution of the Microland Group up the information and services value chain.''

Every business will, in the future, compete in two worlds - physical and virtual, he explained. Kar pointed out that the new company has been launched at a time when the Internet market is expected to take off following the government's premier Internet policy.

National Association of Software and Service Companies and Department of Electronics figures put the Internet user base at 1.5 million by 2000. The numbers are likely to jump to 8 million by 2002.

Planetasia.com CEO V S Sudhakar said the formation of the company is in response to the opportunities available to organisations because of the emerging Internet technologies.

"Survival in an increasingly globalised and competitive economy requires companies to evolve beyond creating electronic brochures to re-orienting themselves for an age in which harnessing information resources and communication process is a key platform for survival and growth,'' Sudhakar said.

According to him, Planetasia.com's focus will be on partnering with organisations in creating, implementing and managing Web strategies.

Planetasia.com has invested over Rs 25 million in the latest digital publishing studio and application development centre in Bangalore. The publishing studio is a creative centre where Web designers, Web writers and creative software engineers use the latest tools in creating "compelling content'', he claimed.

In the application development centre, processes get converted into applications using the latest technologies such as Java, Javascript, Active-X, ASP, Active Databases and Active Messaging, he explained.

The company is also setting up a New Media Research Laboratory. Based in Bangalore, it will research Internet technologies for business solutions.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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