BANGALORE: The International Tech Park Limited (ITPL) in Whitefield, Bangalore (India) has been awarded the prestigious World Teleport Property of the Year for 2002 by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). The forum has noted ITPL's contribution to Bangalore's growth and cited the park’s ability to provide "plug-and-play" services, high-bandwidth and VSNL earth station services reliably to several domestic and multi-national high-tech companies, including SAP, Sanyo LSI Technology, and Siemens Semiconductors.

The ICF is a special interest group within the World Teleport Association, which also named Bangalore one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year in June 2002. ICF notes, "State-of- the-art infrastructure, design and futuristic setting make ITPL an appealing place for many of the 100 multinational companies in Bangalore to do business. The Park's collective turnover is $350 million."

As a recipient of the World Teleport Property of the Year award, ITPL will be given the right to use the World Teleport Property service mark and logo ($20,000 value), for three years to promote the facility and will also be given one-year membership to the World Teleport Association's Intelligent Community Forum (a $3,000 value).

ITPL CEO, Chan Kah Hoe said, "We have been awarded this prestigious recognition due to our ability to offer tenants and customers state-of-the-art infrastructure, professional facility management, high and ready connectivity, uninterrupted power supply and advanced telecommunications along with a host of value added services. We would like to thank our directors and promoters for their confidence and continued patronage to make ITPL a wonderful place for companies to grow and prosper in."

Acccording to the ICF, a World Teleport Property is a commercial building, building complex, hosting center or real estate-based teleport that has been occupied by tenants for at least six months or has used broadband and information systems technology to add demonstrable value to the property in the form of valuation, above-market rentals, and/or advanced services.