By PR Newswire Press Release

SINGAPORE — Tata Communications, a leading provider of the new world of communications, announced today that it will introduce telepresence exchange services for Cisco TelePresence(TM) (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns669/networking_solutions_solution_ segment_home.html), a major expansion of its telepresence services. The Global Meeting Exchange will support meetings between any connected private and public Cisco TelePresence rooms. 

Tata Communications is in discussion with a number of regional carriers to collaborate on extending the Global Meeting Exchange into geographically diverse markets. As a result, any business with a connection to the Global Meeting Exchange will have unparalleled access to set up Cisco TelePresence virtual meetings with their ecosystem of users, achieving a very high level of collaboration without the major costs and disruptions of international travel. 

Tata Communication's telepresence services include managed private Cisco TelePresence rooms, public TelePresence rooms that can be rented by the hour, and the ability for these private and public rooms to connect with each other. To reliably and cost-effectively support global business to business (B2B) connectivity, Tata's Global Meeting Exchange will have major telepresence service points of presence (PoPs) in Mumbai, New York, and London and minor points of presence co-resident in Tata's global MPLS PoPs in major cities around the world. Customer connections will be supported at any of many easily reached PoPs and this globally dispersed PoP distribution will ensure optimum performance with short connection paths. 

“The Global Meeting Exchange will conveniently support B2B sessions amongst any connected private and public Cisco TelePresence rooms,” said Peter Quinlan, Director of Managed Telepresence Services, Tata Communications. “This pioneering global service framework pushes telepresence from being a private intra-company experience to support the strong demand for inter-company sessions.” 

“The Global Meeting Exchange builds upon our current Managed telepresence private network and Public Room services; our extensive owned data bandwidth across the world; Tata's major national network assets in India, South Africa, and later this year China; and our inter-carrier relationships developed as the number one carrier of international voice calls and one of the largest inter-carrier provider of Internet peering. Our B2B cooperation with Cisco and partner carriers will bring a new level of value demanded by Cisco TelePresence users,” said John Landau, senior vice-president Global Managed Services, Tata Communications. 

“In today's environment, business leaders are recognizing that improving speed to decision making and improving employee productivity in a cost-effective manner are business imperatives,” said Naresh Wadhwa, president and country manager of Cisco India. “Cisco TelePresence enables companies to improve productivity and reduce expenses while at the same time collaborating more effectively and improving business innovation. We are pleased to be working closely with Tata Communications to bring the benefits of Cisco TelePresence to its customer base.” 

“The exceptional growth of telepresence deployments during 2008 is a testament to the strong user experience provided by these integrated visual collaboration solutions, In addition, while the current economic climate has negatively impacted IT-related spending, it has fueled interest in telepresence,” reports Ira Weinstein partner at Wainhouse Research. “Services like Tata's Global Meeting Exchange that enable inter-company telepresence sessions will further increase the benefit and value of these highly-immersive sessions. Organizations deploying telepresence should include company-to-company telepresence capabilities in their global communication strategy.” 

Tata Communications is a market-leading provider of telepresence services with a comprehensive offering for enterprises' ecosystem of users globally. The service includes Cisco-certified TelePresence network, a hosted and managed service, the world's first public rooms and soon, the world's first open global telepresence exchange. Tata Communications currently has operational public rooms in India – Mumbai, Bangalore (x2), Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon; London and Boston, and has recently announced an agreement to manage a public room in Manila for PLDT in the Philippines. Tata Communications plans to significantly expand their global network of rooms by the end of 2009. 

For further information on Tata Communications Telepresence Services visit http://www.tatacommunications.com/telepresence