Bharti inks pact with US call center major

BANGALORE: Teletech Holdings has finally decided to set up a facility in India in collaboration with the Bharti Group, according to industry sources. Teletech joins other big companies and competitors like Convergys, Sitel, West, Teleperformance, who have already come to India.

The move of Teletech was being closely watched by the industry, especially as the company had already set up a facility in the Philippino capital of Manila. The other major company which has set up an Indian facility even after having one in the Philippines is Sykes, a company that is quite smaller than Teletech.

However, unlike many other US call center companies that have set up Indian facilities, Teletech has considerable experience in running facilities in Asia Pacific. Besides Manila, it has facilities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and in multiple locations in Australia.

According to sources, the company is setting up a joint venture with Indian telecom major Bharti Group and is locating its facility in Gurgaon, in the national capital region. While the exact capacity is not known, it is expected it would at least be 500 seats to start with.

Sanjay Kapoor, director, strategy of Bharti Group, earlier with Bharti mobile in Delhi and Mumbai, is overseeing the formation of the JV and is tipped to be the head of the JV, though that is yet to be finalized.

The JV will be known as Teletech Services India Pvt Ltd, say sources. The fate of Bharti Infotrac, the company’s subsidiary set up earlier for starting call center business, is not known yet.