Maran invites Telecordia,TEC for joint operation

Chennai, Jun 12: Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran today invited Telecordia Technologies India Private Limited, the Indian entity of US based Telcordia Technolgies to work with Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) in setting standards in the next generation networks.

Speaking after inaugurating Telcordia's Premier Software Research and Development facility here, the first one to be established by the company outside US, Mr Maran said standardisation and test certification would go a long way in setting the pace for Next Generation Networks for which testing and interoperability labs would be required.

He said in India, this function was carried out by the TEC under the department of Telecommunications and Telcordia could identify areas of joint operation with the TEC in setting up testing and interoperability labs.

The US company could also work out technical solutions and roadmaps for bringing the Telecom service industry in India at par with global standards in areas such as interconnection enablement and number portability, Mr Maran suggested.

Telcordia had a history of innovation for over a century and was a leading global provider of telecommunications network software and services for IP, wireline, wirless and cable.

Mr Maran said Telcordia had its presence in India for quite some time with sales of about million in 2005. "This new R and D centre in the city, the first one outside the USA, with its state-of-the-art facility spread over 38,000 sq ft at Tidel Park, is another milestone and Telcordia's committment to the nation," Mr Maran added.

Mr Maran said Telcordia has come to the city at a time when it was being recognised more and more as the hub of intellectual talent and when the Telecom and IT sector in the country was witnessing unprecedented growth.

Mr Maran said in today's scenario, the inexorable march of technology was blurring and obliterating distinction among various types of services.

When digital communication system was taking strides, India was still coping with some "obsolete and legacy system", which could not be dumped overnight. "We have about 49 million landlines and the migration (from wirline to wireless) has started," he said.

Stating that the customers were very demanding and there was a growing demand for bandwith, Mr Maran said initially a 64 Kbps bandwith was made available, which was further increased to 256 Kbps. Now they demand 512 Kbps.

The Indian standards were improving, he said. The Internet Protocal Television had hit the US markets and it was only a question of time, before they foray into the Indian market, he added.

UNI