Bharti Airtel, Singtel form secure high-speed data network to serve enterprises globally

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel and Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) have combined resources into one network to form one of the largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Networks (IP VPN) globally to deliver high-speed, secure data network coverage to enterprise customers in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the US.

The combined network will provide high speed data connectivity to 325 cities across the world through 370 Points of Presence (PoP). Together, Singtel’s 200 PoPs in 160 cities around the world and Airtel’s 170 plus PoPs in 165 cities across India, Africa and the Middle East, will form a new network that offers a connectivity backbone to enterprises which spans Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.

“This association will strongly enhance our value proposition for enterprise customers by offering them a wider global reach and the largest reach within India under a single platform. In particular, this will benefit companies in the pharmaceutical, IT and IT-enabled services as well as financial services segments, which are branching out to international locations rapidly,” Manish Prakash, Director for Strategic Ventures at Bharti Airtel, said in a joint statement.

Under this global network, multinational corporations can maintain line of sight of their operations across different regions by using high-bandwidth business applications such as cloud applications, unified communications, video conferencing and software-defined networking solutions.

The network’s high performance Multi-Protocol Label Switching feature will also allow customers to enjoy seamless and very fast data speeds.
“We believe joining forces this way makes total sense. By tapping on one another’s infrastructure assets we enhance each other’s capabilities,” said Lim Seng Kong, Managing Director of Global Enterprise Business at Singtel Group Enterprise.

“With its wide coverage of cities in India, this network paves the way for our international customers to enter into one of the world’s most vibrant economies. Conversely, this partnership also opens the door for Indian companies to expand abroad, supported by Singtel’s high quality IP VPN network in major business cities in Asia, Europe and the US,” Kong further added.

The new network will ensure a consistent one-stop customer experience through a single helpdesk and an integrated Operations and Maintenance system jointly developed by the partners. These systems are designed to boost troubleshooting capabilities across the networks and standardise service quality across many regions.

Through this partnership, Singtel also strengthens its lead as the largest IP VPN provider in Asia Pacific with strong domestic data network in Australia, India and Singapore.