PacNet eyes ISP, wireless cos here

NEW DELHI: In A bid to expand to markets outside Singapore, Asia Pacific’s largest telco-independent internet communications service provider — Pacific Internet — is close to acquiring some companies in India in the ISP and wireless broadband space.

PacNet, as it is commonly referred to, has appointed Raj Metrani, who was earlier the director of operations for Cable & Wireless (India), as the MD for its operations here. The company has said that the move will strengthen its commitment to the growth market here.

Mr Metrani told ET that Pacific Internet had identified India and China as its growth engines as part of its plans to triple company’s global revenues in the next 2-3 years. “Currently, our products in India include net access, hosting, e-mail and global roaming services, but we are looking to launch new products such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions , Multi Protocol Label Switching solutions and security solutions,” he said.

PacNet will peruse inorganic opportunities as an integral part of its growth strategy. “We could look at internet service providers (ISPs) with a strong customer base or wide geographical reach or a managed services company amongst others. We are in the process of evaluating a few companies,” Mr Metrani said, but refused to reveal the names.

While announcing its quarterly results in Singapore on Thursday, PacNet president & CEO Phey Teck-Moh was quoted by Singapore media saying that the company was in talks for acquisitions in China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the US. He also said that PacNet was “well positioned to take advantage of new revenue opportunities in previously untapped markets and in new spaces created by disruptive technologies.”

Also, the Singapore media has quoted a company statement on Thursday saying: “PacNet will focus in long-term acquisitions that meet its criteria and are available at a price that will produce strategic and reasonable financial returns.” The company has a direct presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Australia, India, Thailand and Malaysia. PacNet delivers a comprehensive suite of internet data, voice and video services to customers.