Singapore pips US for VSNL's HQ

NEW DELHI: VSNL International Business Group, a division of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), has announced that henceforth it will manage its international business from Singapore through VSNL Singapore Pte Ltd.

While the company already has office in the US, the decision to shift headquarters to Singapore for its marketing efforts has been taken keeping in view the 3,175-kilometer submarine cable, which will be commercially launched in October 2004.

According to sources, VSNL's executive director for international business Vinod Kumar is currently based in the US and manages the company's international business from there.

The state-of-the-art terabit level cable, called Tata Indicom Cable is planned to have an initial capacity of 320 Gbps with the ability to scale up to its design capacity of 5.12 Tbps. With an estimated operating lifespan of 25 years, the new cable will connect Chennai to Singapore, from where onward extension to the US and other significant geographies is readily available.

VSNL expects robust demand for capacity on its Chennai to Singapore undersea cable, which is aimed at catering to the exponential increase in the international bandwidth demand in the country.

According to the company, which informed the BSE about this move today, the announcement reinforces VSNL's efforts to extend its operations beyond India with the establishment of the VSNL International Business Group in April 2004.

Moving forward, VSNL International intends to grow its staff and operations to more than eight offices and 100 employees in the near future.