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Tata Communications slipped from fifth position last year to sixth position this year. The company recorded a growth rate of 21% with revenue going up from Rs 8,263 crore in FY 2007-08 to Rs 9,963 crore in FY 2008-09. NLD contributed around Rs 1,050 crore to the revenue, recording a growth of 51.7%, up from Rs 692 crore in FY 2007-08. The company continued to be the leader in the ILD space and the revenue from broadband went up from Rs 692 crore in FY 2007-08 to Rs 1,050 crore in FY 2008-09.

The company is planning to invest $430 mn in the Asia Pacific region which includes developing the Tata Communications Exchange, a new Internet Data Center (IDC) and the completion of the main segment of its TGN-Intra Asia Cable System. These investments are a key part of the company's plan to enhance its robust global infrastructure as part of its $2 bn expansion plan over three years.

Tata Communications sees WiMax as a major growth area. It launched WiMax-based retail broadband in four major cities and is waiting for spectrum auction to give a boost to its WiMax rollout plans. The company has 90% coverage in Delhi (NCR), Bangalore Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. Installed BTS is 750. Currently, it is acquiring 4,000 subscribers per month, who are primarily using unlimited usage schemes.

Tata Communications also joined WiMax Forum as part of its board of directors.

The company is aggressively looking at markets beyond India, and made a foray in the South African market some time back. In the year gone by the company acquired majority stake in Neotel, South Africa's first converged communications network operator. Tata Communications is continuing its focus on other markets like the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Last year the company also introduced Global Suite of Security Services designed to protect the applications, IT systems and networks that power its customers critical business infrastructures. Again for the enterprises segment, the company expanded its conferencing portfolio by acquiring the rights to offer GlobalMeet India, an audio conferencing service ideal for India-based enterprises, as well as companies with strong business ties to the Indian subcontinent. In the same vein, telepresence was a major initiative of the company and Tata Communications formed a mutual collaboration with Cisco and CII to set up telepresence rooms at four CII offices in India. It also launched 'work a service' which ensures work from home option for BPO employees.

Tata Communications, which wants to become #1 or #2 in leadership in all focus markets, has presence in twenty-four of thirty emerging markets.

Tata Communications continues its focus on emerging markets with the recent completion of its TGN Intra-Asia submarine cable system and strategic partnerships with Etisalat for enterprise network services, including Ethernet services for connectivity to and from the UAE. Tata Communications and Tata Africa also increased the Tata Group shareholding in Neotel, South Africa's first converged services operator, to 56% earlier this year.

'We expect the broadband market in India to grow exponentially from next year'

MD & CEO, Tata Communications
N Srinath

Address: Tata Communications,
LVSB Kashinath Dhuru Marg, Prabhadevi Mumbai-400028
Tel: +91-22-6657-8765, +91-22-6666-9040
Fax: +91-22-6659-1912
Website: www.tatacommunications.com

Highlights

Launched WiMax based retail
broadband services in four major cities
Expanding network reach in India
and globally
Increased the Tata Group
shareholding in Neotel
Plans to invest $430 mn in the Asia Pacific region

What were the highlights of the last fiscal and your key achievements?
Our revenues grew 20% year-on-year, and our EBIDTA grew over 50%. Tata Communications' sound performance in 2008-09 has come in the midst of a challenging economic scenario. Our investments in infrastructure and services capabilities are beginning to pay off, and are highly relevant to our customers in the current environment.

What is your strategy for the current year? What is going to be the focus areas?
We are pursuing our vision of delivering a new world of communications to our customers, with a strong focus on service excellence. Towards this goal, we will continue to make prudent investments in expanding our network and services portfolio this year. Our submarine cable and data center builds will continue; we are also expanding our network reach in India and globally. The WiMax spectrum auctions later in the year should provide a boost to our broadband plans.

We have grown in all our segments last year, albeit at different rates. While international voice is a mature business, the market for wholesale voice is still growing. Data demand, of course, is growing at a more rapid pace, with the advent of web 2.0 services and increased broadband penetration globally.

What are the major challenges you are facing in the market today? What has been the impact of the slowdown?
The major challenge for all telcos is delivering value to customers at lower price points, while still remaining profitable. Customers are demanding more for less. We believe that our investments in infrastructure and managed services actually help deliver this to our customers. Our offerings like Ethernet, telepresence and hosted contact centers provide customers greater efficiency at lower cost structures than traditional alternatives. For instance, it has been observed that companies that adopt telepresence can save upto 30% of their travel costs.

What is happening on the WiMax front?
Tata Communications has launched WiMax based retail broadband services in four major cities. We also serve our business customers requirements of last mile connectivity in over 100 towns using WiMax. We expect that the spectrum auction later this year will provide a boost to our WiMax rollout plans.

You increased your global footprint last year. What are your plans in this regard and which are the focus geographies?
The company will continue to build on its global footprint. We are strengthening our sales and delivery capabilities in developed market regions in North America and western Europe, while expanding our presence in the emerging market regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Neotel, our joint venture in South Africa, and CEC, our proposed JV in China will play major roles in our emerging markets growth plans.