Tata Pours $430M Into Asia-Pacific

Tata Communications (news, filings), the telecom arm of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group,  announced today a $430 investment plan in the Asia-Pacific region.  The plans two key features are a new ‘flagship’ datacenter in Singapore called the Tata Communications Exchange, and further development of its TGN-Intra-Asia undersea cable system, hooking up Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and also Vietnam and the Phillipines.  Tata’s TGN cable systems began under the wing of Tyco during the bubble, with some of the newest transatlantic and transpacific cables at the time. But those systems stopped in Japan and Guam, and Tata is obviously looking to hook them up to the rest of the region.  There can be no doubt that in terms of traffic hubs the Asia-Pacific region is gaining mass rapidly, and they naturally feel the area should be an extension of their home turf.

As I have noted a few times on this site, the two major Indian carriers Reliance and Tata have been aggressively pushing into the international markets.  They have deep pockets and big dreams, and a recession such as this one could be an opportunity to open a few doors.  Of course, they are also PTTs at heart, so it remains to be seen if they can move as swiftly as is needed nowadays to really gain ground in the international carrier market.  I wonder though, the two are long time rivals, will Tata’s investment in the region prompt a response from Reliance?

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Categories: ILECs, PTTs · Internet Backbones · Undersea cables