Flag shifts network centre to Navi Mumbai

Flag Telecom, Anil Ambani-owned submarine cable services and bandwidth provider, has transferred its network operating centre (NOC) from London to its headquarters in Navi Mumbai.

The Reliance Communications' subsidiary has also hired Mark Heraghty from global telecom major Cable & Wireless (C&W) and Bhaskar Thyagarajan from US-based Sprint Telecom.

An NOC is the heart of a submarine cable system that remotely monitors and controls the system from a specific location. The centre is also responsible for restoring connectivity and maintenance and repairing as and when a fault occurs.

"The shifting of the NOC to Mumbai will enable the company to shift all its major operations, except sales. The operations to be shifted include engineering, execution and revenue functions," a company official said on Sunday.

The relocation of the NOC took place from Heathrow to the company headquarters in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, Navi Mumbai.

Flag Telecom is also setting up regional operation centres in the US, the UK, Hong Kong and the UAE, all of which will be monitored from the Navi Mumbai NOC.

Besides the initiative on the NOC front, Flag Telecom is considering tapping the "next phase of growth in global managed services and solutions", even as it is gearing up to provide internet protocol-based managed services and a range of outsourcing services to the global telecom service provider market.