US Call Center Major Teletech Holdings will Partner with Bharti Group

TELETECH Holdings, one of the top 5 call center companies in the United
States, has finally decided to set up a facility in India, 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

Shyamanuja Das