NEWS & VIEWS: "Communications sector in India is growing...regulators must not restrict it"

Earlier this year, communications network and services provider company Avaya
announced an agreement with the Tata Group to acquire 25 percent voting equity
share capital of Tata Telecom (now Avaya GlobalConnect). Though Ayava seems to
be losing out to competition in the data networking market, the company has
placed its bets on converged networks. James Haensly, chief technology officer
(Asia-Pacific), spoke to VOICE&DATA on Avaya's India strategy and how the
company plans to take on the competition. Excerpts:

How does Avaya see India? How do you compare it with China?

From our point of view, the Indian market is a major growth area. It
operates and behaves similar to the US, UK, or Australian markets. Unlike Japan,
where much effort goes into localizing the product, here the solutions can be
brought and deployed without many changes. India has matured a lot in terms of
adopting new technologies and the time lag in deployment of technologies,
vis-à-vis other developed countries, has been constantly reducing.

Both India and China are key markets and have many similarities. Their market
size is huge. The GDP growth is high and they hold a large consumer base with a
lot of purchasing power. This is perfect for the communications industry to
grow. Hence, both countries are equally important for us.

Where do you see the growth coming from in India?

For Avaya Telecom, companies, contact centers, and service providers are the
sweet spots. For volume growth we will focus on enterprise customers and
government or public enterprises. Growth will come in big from domestic services
sector, as it relies heavily on communications. The local companies operating
here hold huge potential.

What roadblocks do you foresee?

The market is there and we see a rise in demand. But, there are regulatory
issues to be cleared. India is seeing a massive growth in the communications
sector and regulators must not restrict this. Increase in IP telephony usage
will drive business growth. Currently, IP telephony is restricted to a closed
group. To maintain India's competitiveness, it must be opened up.

Data networking is seen as a weak point for Avaya. Is it true?

We are focusing on providing complete IP-telephony solutions and data
networking will be a part of this. Our strategy is to make products from
different vendors interoperable. Typically, our solutions sit on servers
connected through various switches. We are concentrating on the first part and
the rest two can come from any vendor.

How will Avaya tap the SMBs?

We are already marketing LG's products for this segment. Currently, we
have undertaken a research project, along with Tata Telecom, on the suitability
of SMB solutions in India. Certainly, we will be coming out with more IP-based
solutions and products for the SMB market and will make sure that we are well
positioned to offer the right product mix at the right price points.

Anurag Prasad