MUMBAI, India, November 2, 2004 - Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), India's leading telecommunications and Internet service provider, and Cisco Systems® (Nasdaq:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, announced today the deployment of India's largest broadband Metro Ethernet solution for Tata Indicom Broadband Services. The solution is the largest broadband Metro Ethernet deployment in India and will provide VSNL's enterprise and residential customers with high-quality broadband services of 10/100-Mbps connectivity.
Cisco® technology enables delivery of bundled services such as voice over IP, broadcast TV and video on demand for residential customers, and IP VPN and videoconferencing services for business customers. The deployment of Cisco technology supports VSNL's endeavor to provide state-of-the-art "triple-play" (voice, data and video) Tata Indicom Broadband Services across 8 cities in the country, in the first phase. The current deployment can connect more than a million customers.
"Enhancing customer experience, through innovation and superior technology, is an integral philosophy of the bouquet of Tata Indicom services offered by VSNL. Tata Indicom Broadband Services will be backed by Cisco's Metro Ethernet solution and leadership in the IP arena", said Mr. Sashi Kalathil, head of Broadband, VSNL. "Tata Indicom Broadband customers will experience the highest-quality standards of end-to-end video, voice and data services, all provided by a single service provider", he added.
Mr. Rangu Salgame, President, Cisco Systems India and SAARC, said "Cisco is pleased that VSNL has chosen its broadband Metro Ethernet solution to provide integrated voice, data and video services. This end-to-end Internet Protocol solution delivers significant operational and capital cost savings to VSNL and enables them to offer world-class value-added services to address their corporate and residential customer demands with comprehensive security, scalability and quality of service."
The Cisco Metro Ethernet solution is based on the Cisco 12000, 7600, and 7300 Series Routers and Catalyst 2950 series switches.
About VSNL
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, first telecom service provider in the world to get the prestigious TL 9000 certification, is India's leading provider of International Telecommunications and Internet Services. As the country's leader in International Long Distance services and with a strong pan-India National Long Distance presence, VSNL is the leader in the Corporate Data Market in the country today with a strong service offering covering IPLCs, ILLs, Frame relay, ATM and MPLS based IP-VPN services. With established relations with over 80 carriers across the globe, VSNL today has a strong infrastructure base that covers multiple gateways, earth stations and submarine cable systems.
Tata-managed VSNL is now rapidly growing its retail and corporate presence under the Tata Indicom brand through its products like high speed broadband, dial-up Internet, net telephony and calling cards, and has an internet subscriber base of about 8,00,000 subscribers. The Company also proposes to consolidate its presence in the Internet space by increasing its impetus on the Retail Broadband business. VSNL also offers a host of other valued added services that include Television / Video uplinking, Program transmission services, Frame relay services and Inmarsat services.
VSNL is in the process of expanding its global presence and is setting up operations in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Europe and the United States of America. Its international connectivity capabilities, both undersea as well as satellite, offer the greatest diversity in India, which is critical for all customer segments, encompassing wholesale, corporate and retail. The company is augmenting its international connectivity by setting up a 3175 km undersea cable between Chennai and Singapore with a designed capacity of 5.12 tera bits. VSNL is listed across all the major stock exchanges in India and also has its ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (www.vsnl.com)
