How did Infosys perform in the telecom space in FY 2004–05?
Last year's performance was pretty good. The telecom segment grew by around 72 percent. We are seeing strong demand from telecom companies, specifically from international carriers, and this is increasing from last two to three years as carriers are looking at software companies for delivery model that they have never looked at in the past.

In the telecom space, where is Infosys concentrating?
In telecom, we focus on three areas-IT systems, network management, and OSS/BSS. In IT systems we focus on building internal IT systems, CRM, software packages for customer care (which includes customer care and service provisioning), fault tolerance, and fault management. In network management, we look after: network and systems management, managed networks for the customer's clients and client's networks. Customer care provides maximum RoI, and in order to provide a better experience, the company plans to outsource. OSS/BSS billing fits with network and management system and therefore requires lot of investment, as it needs frequent changes in terms of customization. In OSS/BSS we are a full-service company, whereas in IT services we work with third-party vendors for customization and implementation.

What are the industry and technology trends in telecom software?
In the past few years and years to come, the biggest trend is the transformation from circuit switch to packet switch in the carrier environment. This will result in investments and thus provide lot of promise to companies like Infosys. All this transformation has to happen at three layers-the hardware, the OSS/BSS, and the services need to be changed. So, network transformation and convergence is a multi-year phenomenon. Companies are looking at multiple perspectives to maintain costs, and India has a benefit in terms of cost expertise in technology.

What are the new investments planned by Infosys for FY 2005–06?
We are investing in areas of billing, CRM, VoIP, and testing. Testing is becoming important as new things are getting built up and testing needs to be undertaken at unit level and also at integration level. Testing is also statutory and mandated by law as penalties are high. So it is a strong focus for any service provider.

Competitors for Infosys in the telecom space?
In Indian companies we are ahead but in terms of international ones, we get competition from Accenture, IBM, and Cap Gemini. In terms of strong verticals within telecom, say billing, we have competition from the likes of Convergys and AMDOCS, and in space of infrastructure management it is HP.

What is the acquisition strategy for Infosys in telecom space?
We haven't acquired any company and we are not looking at acquiring either. Our challenge is to displace incumbents like Accenture, IBM, and Cap Gemini from as many positions as possible.

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