Flag Telecom to foray into BPO services

Flag Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group-owned mobile service provider Reliance Communications, is venturing into outsourcing and IP-based managed services.

The company will focus on high-end global managed services (GMS) market targeting enterprises and fast-growing telecom service providers.

Sources said Flag's global executive leadership team is believed to have chalked out a strategy to capture a significant market share of the fast-growing GMS market, tipped to cross the $5 billion by end of 2008.

To head the venture, the company has roped in former Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chief financial officer, Vinay Aggarwal, as head of finance.

Reliance executives, however, declined to comment.

Sources said the company has also roped in telecom professionals from across international geographies and functional areas to carry out the venture.

With this move, Flag would join the band of select telecom carriers, which are on the roadmap of blurring the distinction between information technology and telecommunications.

In addition to eyeing the global managed services market, the company is also planning to expand its service portfolio on its existing 65,000 km long seamless undersea cable network spanning 4 continents.

The company also plans to enhance offerings on next generation services and expand its network reach through carrier partnerships and new infrastructure developments. It recently launched the Middle East Falcon network.

The Flag executive team led by CEO Punit Garg oversees important functions with a trans-geographical strategic focus on network infrastructure, service offerings, enhancing customer service delivery level, sales and marketing.

Meanwhile, the market capitalisation of the company reached an alltime high surpassing Rs 78,000 crore. The company added over a million subscribers for the last three months adding a total of close to 3.35 million customers to the company's network.