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ax3, a retail product from Internet service provider (ISP) Biznet Networks, has entered the competition for corporate internet connection in Bali, targeting about 3,000 new connections in the island this year.

Biznet president director Adi Kusma said the company had established 30 kilometers of fiber optic broadband cable running from Jimbaran to Kuta, with its Max3 product ready to serve customers in the two areas.

"Right now, there are very few ISPs in Bali," he said during the grand opening of the Max3 store in Kuta on Friday.

"Our goal is to be the leader in the Bali market as soon as we can."

Biznet is one of the main corporate Internet connection providers in the country, with 1,000 kilometers of fiber optic infrastructure established in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and now Bali.

The company had some 10,000 subscribers by the end of 2008.

The Max3 product serves mostly small corporate customers or people who want to build a home network, since Biznet allows customers to use one connection for multiple computers, as opposed to some ISPs who only allow one connection per computer.

Adi said Max3 in Bali offered a 15 Mbps Internet connection for Rp 500,000 (US$41.77) per month with a 2.5 GB quota, among other packages.

When asked whether he was concerned about the global financial crisis affecting his forecast, Adi said the telecommunications business would not be hit as hard as the real sector.

"The thing that we have to worry about is perhaps the increased cost in investing in infrastructure, cables and the like," he said.

"However, the number of customers should actually rise since our corporate customers will most likely travel less for meetings, and teleconference more, thus requiring good Internet connections."