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Eicon seeking to make inroads in S'pore broadband market

Eicon Networks Corp has launched three Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) products in Singapore, which are expected to make up the bulk of its sales in the Republic.
Written by Irene Tham, Contributor
SINGAPORE--Eicon Networks Corp has launched three Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) products in Singapore, which are expected to make up the bulk of its sales in the Republic.

The three products are DIVA ADSL USB modem, DIVA 2430 SE (Second Edition) ADSL modem and DIVA 2440 ADSL router. Currently available on retail shelves, DIVA ADSL USB Modem targets consumers while the other two products are for businesses, said Eicon South Asia general manager Chew Weng Hock in a telephone interview.

"Singapore has a high Internet penetration and many of the Internet users are expected to convert to broadband," said Chew.

According to statistics available on the Info-communications Development Authority's (IDA) Web site, the Internet dial-up penetration stood at 48.7 percent with close to 2 million dial-up users as of April.

Meanwhile, IDC Asia Pacific had said in March that it expects the number of broadband users here to hit 250,000 by year end. This number is also expected to grow to 1.3 million by 2005. The projections included both ADSL and cable modem subscribers.

"Our ADSL products are expected to contribute 80 percent of our total sales in Singapore by year end," Chew noted, but declined to reveal revenue projections.

A business unit of Denmark-based i-data international a-s, Eicon's other offerings include solutions for Wide Area Network (WAN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and Virtual Private Network for secure Internet connectivity and network communications.

Chew said that the remaining 20 percent of sales in Singapore will be from its WAN and ISDN products.

"We want to be a market leader in ADSL technology here," he said, claiming that its ADSL modems can be installed in "a couple of minutes" and are user-friendly. "The small and medium-sized companies are not technically savvy, thus the product has to be easy to use."

Eicon's three ADSL products were first launched in the US and Europe in January, he said, adding that they first debut in Asia Pacific here.

In Singapore, the ADSL products will be exclusively distributed by Malifax, which will provide technical support services as well.

"We are currently in talks with all the broadband service providers here for joint promotions," Chew noted.

The current ADSL service providers are SingTel Magix, StarHub Internet and Pacific Internet.

The DIVA ADSL USB modem, DIVA 2430 SE (Second Edition) ADSL modem and DIVA 2440 ADSL router are priced at S$230, S$590 and S$830 respectively.

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