3 - 3Com

3Com

owes its growth this year fully to its outstanding performance

in the booming Indian carrier market. Its performance in its

traditional strength areas–the low-end LAN equipment market–was

lacklustre. 3Com's hub sales saw a decline, while NIC and

modem businesses were flat. This, along with its exit from the

high-end enterprise business, created a lot of confusion.

Growth came in from the

RAS segment. Its other segments didn't create any breakthrough

achievements. However, 3Com was able to open up cable modem line

of business. It did a business of close to Rs 50 crore in the

carrier market.

3Com did not follow the

normal pattern of restructuring exercises. 3Com created new

businesses from the acquisitions. Similarly, when everyone is gung-ho

about the enterprise business, it has decided to

exit that business. Then instead of building the so-called

" complete solution portfolio" for all kinds of

carriers, it is focusing on a two-pronged strategy. For the

legacy network operators, it has built flexible multi-services

(IP/wireless/DSL/cable) access platforms (Total Control series)

that integrates smoothly with the all-pervasive protocol of the

telco space–# SS7. For the IP-based service providers, it has

an-end-to-end solution approach. Summary: It has chosen to

partner with–and not challenge head on–the large telco

equipment vendors who understand the carrier market too well.

In 1999-00, it got major contracts from

Satyam, VSNL, ISP India, and Caltiger. It has sold to about 40

ISPs. In the cable Internet market, 3Com had an order booking

for close to 5,000 cable modems and four CMTS systems. In the

telco market, it made a business of close to Rs 7 crore selling

its solution that will allow fax/e-mail over WLL to all the

basic service providers who use CDMA–namely Bharti, Tata

Teleservices, Shyam Telelink, and MTNL.