Gadu-gadu calling

Poland's most popular instant messenger, Gadu-gadu, is planning to expand its activities, which will include providing broadband internet access.

"That's where we could use the potential of the 6,000,000 Gadu-gadu users," Krzysztof Szalwa, a member of Gadu-gadu's management board, told WBJ.

Apart from its instant messenger, Gadu-gadu has also been offering VoIP (voice over internet protocol) services under the Nagłos brand. During the nine months since it was established, Nagłos has managed to attract 200,000 users. The communicator competes for new customers by offering them free connection time with fixed lines.

Gadu-gadu wants to start selling broadband internet access at the beginning of next year. According to Puls Biznesu, it is currently negotiating cooperation with GTS Energis and Netia. Szalwa was reluctant to reveal the details of Gadu-gadu's strategy. "We've just submitted our issue prospectus to the Financial Supervisory Commission and I would like to wait till it's approved," Szalwa said.

According to Grzegorz Leszczyński, CEO of IDM brokerage house, which is preparing Gadu-gadu's IPO, the company should debut on the bourse at the beginning of 2007 at the latest.

The bulk of Gadu-gadu's revenues, which last year amounted to zł.8.2 million, comes from advertising. The company is also thinking of offering instant-messaging services for business users. "Our work on this project is very advanced and we're keen on this idea," Szalwa said.