Speaking to The Financial Express, BPL Ltd, director (sales) LH Bhatia said the strategy was to translate the demand for convergence products into its product range. The key driver for the products would be attractive pricing, which would make the products a lot more affordable, he said.

The company has just entered into a technology alliance with WorldSpace to manufacture satellite radio receivers under the BPL brand. Worldspace currently has similar alliances with leading audio equipment manufacturers like Hitachi, Panasonic, JVC and Sanyo.

The BPL-Worldspace receiver will also have a USB port which can be plugged into the computer, and Internet access through the satellite receiver could be facilitated. ``The overall technology could be comparable to Internet connectivity through VSATs, taking the `direct-to-home concept' much closer to the customers. The product is expected to hit the market in less than a year and will be priced affordably,'' Mr Bhatia added.

The second product in the pipeline is an Internet telephone which will go into manufacturing mode shortly. The telephone, with an LCD display and infra-red port (for wireless keyboard connectivity), will be enabled for sending e-mails directly from the phone.

``Our whole convergence strategy is not to launch products that are aimed at replacing any conventional appliance especially like the PC, but in fact is aimed at providing products that can double up for these appliances and provide intelligent interactivity,'' he said.

In a bid to relaunch its Web-TV product, which was launched a few months ago, BPL is revisiting the price to make it more affordable. The new price will be just Rs 5000 over conventional TVs. ``We are working on Web-TVs, set-top-boxes and also a high-end designer TV segment which will be priced at Rs 1 lakh upwards. Work is also on to integrate a DVD player into a television. The strategy is to build up a portfolio of different renderings to cater to all segments of the market. B2C on a TV is the key concept,'' Mr Bhatia said.