(11 September 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: BT is expanding its presence in India as it has increased its connecting points (nodes) for its multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) infrastructure.

The nodes are the basis for high quality video and voice services over the internet, bringing the total number to 14 in India.

Six cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune will have multiple nodes plus an additional one in Kolkatta.

The company's network capabilities will be further extended with Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka receiving independent nodes by the end of April 2008.

Special equipped nodes in Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai will help BT's media and broadcast customers in India to deliver their content to a global audience and make it more cost effective. It also allows them to distribute and edit content across regions, which in return provides more effective disaster recovery and continuity planning.

BT Asia Pacific president Allen Ma said, "We are being recognised by the industry and our customers as a truly global software-driven services organisation. This is due to our concerted efforts of getting closer to our customer which enables greater collaboration. With our increased presence in India we are gearing up to gain access to tier two and three cities. Our greatest challenge in India is to ensure that our services and operations exceed customer needs and satisfaction at all times.. Our plans for India are well on track and we are poised to reach our $ 250 million target by 2009."

BT India chairman and managing director Arun Seth said, "With leadership position in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector firmly established, BT is now extending its horizon to Indian multinationals going global with specific focus on banking, financial services, media, broadcast, pharmaceuticals, IT and hospitality sectors. The challenge for BT in India is to stay ahead of the game. With our licenses we can now provide local billing and service management for multi site corporate customers in Asia Pacific from our Customer Network Management Centre (CNOC) in Pune."