Tata Communications Expands Global VPN Services to China Through Partnership with China Entercom

MNCs Benefit from Seamless, Extended Reach into China
(press1) - Singapore--(BUSINESS WIRE) - February 26, 2008 - Tata Communications leading provider of a new world of communications, announced today the expansion of its Global VPN service to China through an NNI (Network to Network Interface) agreement with China Enterprise Netcom Corporation Limited (China Entercom or CEC), a value-added telecommunication services and integrated IT solutions provider and subsidiary of CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation).

Through this NNI, Tata Communications and China Entercom have interconnected their respective MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) infrastructures, allowing Tata Communications' multi-national corporation (MNC) customers VPN connectivity reach beyond the existing 120 cities in India and 19 major business centers across North America, Asia, and Europe to now also include 347 cities throughout China. Additionally customers can connect with dual PoP locations in tier-one cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"Tata Communications' agreement with China Entercom allows us to serve our many global and India MNC customers who require a single scalable and reliable global VPN with deep reach into both India and China, and broad reach around the world," said Vinod Kumar, President, Global Data & Mobility Services, Tata Communications. "China and India are the engines driving the globalizing information economy, and, it is critical for MNC's to establish reliable infrastructure in these markets. Tata Communications' unmatched depth and reach throughout India coupled with our new, extended reach into China allows us to support the needs of our customers seeking to achieve seamless coverage in these markets and to major cities throughout the world."

Mr. Kumar added, "Carrier partnerships are critical to provide the deep global reach our customers' networks require. Our agreement with China Entercom is part of a larger MPLS expansion plan that will include other NNI agreements, as well as the expansion of Tata Communications' international on-net in key strategic regions and emerging markets that are of high value to our customers, including the Middle East, South Africa, Philippines,and Malaysia."

Zhu Jian Hua, President and CEO, China Entercom commented, "We are pleased to partner with Tata Communications to provide customers with high quality IP VPN solutions throughout China. The seamless integration of Tata Communications' high performance IP network with China Entercom's extensive IP VPN coverage in greater China will provide superior connectivity in the Asia region and to the world."

Tata Communications is the leading service provider, offering a Global VPN on-net solution with four classes of service options which provides a deep and broad reach across India as well as to major cities across the world. This partnership with CEC will offer customers additional reach into and across China allowing international and Indian MNCs to be seamlessly served with a single VPN that covers India, China, and major metropolitan areas worldwide. The service is available with both managed and unmanaged options, supported by 24/7 end-to-end network management, and tied to a stringent and unified Service Level Agreement (SLA).

David Kennedy, Senior Analyst, Ovum, states, "With an estimated annual communications spend of $25B, the Asia Pacific Region, including China and India, is the fastest growing economic zone in the world and MNCs are investing heavily in its markets. Revenue from IP-based communications is growing at double-digit rates, and both domestic businesses and MNCs are benefiting from this growth and require sophisticated telecommunications to support their businesses. Network coverage is the first filter that prospective customers apply to suppliers...and coverage in these growing markets is currently the main point of differentiation between networks."

Tata Communications' global IP network touts 570Gbps of high speed OC48/192 MPLS Backbone Capacity and 500G of customer connectivity throughout North America, Europe and Asia. It reaches over land, sea and sky, in 5 continents and over 195 countries, carrying more then 300 petabits of traffic globally per month.

About Tata CommunicationsTata Communications Limited along with its global subsidiaries (Tata Communications) is a leading global provider of the new world of communications. The company leverages its Tata Global Network, vertical intelligence and leadership in emerging markets, to deliver value-driven, globally managed solutions to the Fortune 1000 and mid-sized enterprises, service providers and consumers.

The Tata Communications portfolio includes transmission, IP, converged voice, mobility, managed network connectivity, hosted data center, communications solutions and business transformation services to global and Indian enterprises & service providers as well as, broadband and content services to Indian consumers. The Tata Global Network encompasses one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, connectivity to more than 200 countries across 300 PoPs and more than one million square feet data center space. Tata Communications serves its customers from its offices in 80 cities in 40 countries worldwide. Tata Communications has a strategic investment in South African operator Neotel, providing the company with a strong anchor to build an African footprint.

The number one global international wholesale voice operator and number one provider of International Long Distance, Enterprise Data and Internet Services in India, the company was named "Best Wholesale Carrier" at the World Communications Awards in 2006 and was named the "Best Pan-Asian Wholesale Provider" at the 2007 Capacity Magazine Global Wholesale Telecommunications Awards for the second consecutive year.

Becoming the leading integrated provider to drive and deliver a new world of communications, Tata Communications became the unified global brand for VSNL, VSNL International, Teleglobe, Tata Indicom Enterprise Business Unit and CIPRIS on February 13, 2008.

Tata Communications Ltd. is a part of the $29 billion Tata Group; it is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TCL).
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About China EntercomAs one of the value-added communication solution providers, China Entercom has a strong financial and regulatory background due to the major shareholders being China International Trust and Investment Corporation Group (CITIC) and State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

Having full licenses covering IP VPN, ISP, call centre, on-line transaction and multi-communication service operations, China Entercom provides a wide range of telecom services and IT solutions based on our nationwide IP VPN network, "CENet". China Entercom also integrates its own network with China Express One which is now held by CITIC Group, to provide value-added services and end-to-end managed services to enterprises throughout the regions.

China Entercom's headquarters is located in Beijing and there are Chinese regional branch offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Due to the increase in China Entercom's international partner business, a subsidiary company for both sales and operations has been established in Hong Kong. China Entercom has a fully functional 24x7 network operation centre in Beijing, with also customer service centers located in other major provincial cities namely Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo and Xiamen.


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