The Web farm is in response to the customers' demand for value-added services. Confirming this, Mr Prakash D Chaukar, general manager, BSES Telecom, said: "We propose to operationalise the Web farm in the next 3-4 months." The Web farm will be housed in a much larger 5000 sq ft space now as against the data centre's 600 sq ft.

As part of the expansion, the company also proposes to ramp up the manpower from the current 10 to 20. Training is also being envisaged for the personnel manning the Web farm.

"We are getting the manpower trained," Mr Chaukar said. Though Mr Chaukar refused to disclose the incremental investment thatupgradation will entail, he said: "It has all been worked out." The company's aim ultimately is to offer multimedia services and the Web farm is a step in that direction. "It is a value-addition that we are trying to do," BTL sources said. The exercise is ultimately expected to translate into additional revenue for the company. The concept of Web farms is in a nascent stage in India and there are not toomany players in this area. "Even if they are, they are not doing it on a large scale. We intend to do it on a very large scale," the official said.