Reliance Infocomm Ltd is to roll out its broadband initiative in the next 12-24 months in the country and is scouting for partners for digital distribution of the content.

"We are in the intensive testing process and in the preliminary stage, we expect to provide connectivity to over 3,000 to 4,500 homes over our existing optical fibre network," Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said at the Frames seminar in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The alpha and beta tests for the same have also been completed, he added.

Ambani said Reliance Infocomm would roll out its broadband plans over the 18,000-km-long fibre optic network in India, which connects over 11,000 towns and cities in India and is rapidly expanding.

The company's broadband initiatives would be facilitated by the international connectivity of Flag Telecom and its submarine cable network - FLAG, he said, adding Reliance would roll out a whole range of entertainment options.

Flag Telecom's connectivity reaches out to four continents through 55,000 km of sub-sea optic fibre network.

Meanwhile, delivering his valedictory address at FICCI Frames 2004, he said Reliance Infocomm would help to bring a "broadband Bharat."

Broadband would transform Indian entertainment context in a digital and decisive manner, he said, adding Reliance Infocomm is evolving as a strategic partner of the Indian entertainment industry.

The country's target audience comprises over a billion homes and the Infocomm partnership would help to reach billions across the globe, he said.

He also said that Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology at Gandhinagar would introduce a two-year masters programme in digital media from next academic year.

Earlier, Reliance Infocomm president Prakash Bajpai said the company expects to digitalise 200,000 residential buildings in the next two weeks under its broadband initiatives. However, he did not elaborate on this issue.