Singtel, Bharti Airtel join hands to extend connectivity to 325 cities
Singapore
HOMEGROWN telco Singtel will be extending its reach far beyond Singapore to four continents and 325 cities around the globe, as it teams up with associate Bharti Airtel to merge their Point of Presence (PoP) resources into an unified network.
At present, Singtel has 200 PoPs in 160 cities globally, while Airtel has more than 170 PoPs in 165 cities across India, Africa and the Middle East.
The combined network will allow the two firms to provide high-speed data connectivity to 325 cities across the world through 370 PoPs, forming one of the largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Networks (IP VPN) globally, Singtel said in a release on Tuesday.
Businesses subscribed to either of the telcos will only need to deal with a single contract on the back of one network to manage their communications across multiple countries.
Said managing director of global enterprise business at Singtel Group Enterprise Lim Seng Kong: "With its wide coverage of cities in India, this network paves the way for our international customers to enter into one of the world's most vibrant economies ... (and) we provide an integrated, fully-managed and secured networking service to help multinational corporations simplify their communications needs."
To maintain a consistent user experience for customers, the network will provide a single helpdesk for troubleshooting capabilities along with an integrated operations and maintenance system jointly developed by the two telcos, Singtel said.
Citing foreign direct investment figures (FDI) into India, which showed a US$6 billion rise in FDI in the first half of 2015 to US$22 billion as compared to the preceding period, Singtel described the development of the combined network as a "timely" move.
