AT&T outlines India investment plans

NEW DELHI: As part of its plan to invest $8 billion to $8.5 billion globally in 2006, US-based telecom company AT&T Inc. has announced its investment plans in India for 2006.

The company would be setting up an additional global network node in Hyderabad. This would be the company's fifth node in India after Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.

Key focus vertical for the company in India include ITES, BPOs and finance. The company is also exploring NNI arrangements to extend network reach for the same.

According to AT&T India country GM Sanjeev Bhagat, “The company's India revenue showed a 31 percent growth in 2005 with more than half it the revenue coming from our flagship MPLS based IP-VPN services. India is an important strategic market for us, as it's the fastest growing single market for AT&T in 2005.”

Shedding light on the APAC business results for 2005, he said, “The APAC revenue grew by 11 percent YoY compared to the industry growth of four percent. It is the fastest growing region for AT&T worldwide. We have identified network integration as the key strategic focus for APAC this year.”