Sparta Matrix sets up India beachhead

Sparta Matrix, the satellite tracking applications service provider for the Inmarsat platform, has set up its first Indian office in Kolkata.

The formal big bang launch will take place in November 2004 through an unusual event- the nine-nation ASEAN car rally from Guwahati to Thailand via Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.

The company has entered into a six-digit dollar sponsorship deal with the organisers of the rally and will provide security and tracking services for the 70-odd participating, service and media vehicles for the entire distance of the event, Sparta Matrix chairman Philip H. Wainwright told Business Standard.

The rally will end in Thailand in December. The Indian media is expected to track the rally right through.

Coinciding with the third ASEAN-India summit, the rally will be flagged off from Vientiane in November by the Prime Minister in the presence of other heads of state of countries there for the Asean-India summit.

The Inmarsat-based Sparta Matrix service will enable Indian corporates to track any asset anywhere in the world, including inside India which has been comprehensively mapped for GPS coverage, said Wainwright.

The Australia-based company has offices in Europe. It will be sponsoring the event and providing security and tracking systems all along the route, apart from arranging for video coverage at key points in the rally for the benefit of spectators, said Wainwright.

As a logistics security solutions provider, SpartaMatrix has identified West Bengal, and specifically Kolkata, as its preferred location for its Indian operations center.

The Kolkata centre will provide solutions for hardware, software and applications businesses of the company. Currently operating through a wholly-owned subsidiary, it would be open to joint ventures.

Wainwright said the company's main business was maritime and port security. India was very competitive in developing these solutions as most of these, particularly the applications, were tailormade.

The SpartaMatrix network at Kolkata will cover Indian ports, from modernisation of port information technology infrastructure for maintaining IMO and IT systems expansion of supply chain global trading networks and to upgrade and promote rapid commercial expansion in and around ports.

For the Asean rally, SpartaMatrix will work on the technology of Immarsat satellite network to deliver innovative services and solutions on. Even when cars are going through difficult terrain, or if there are unforeseen glitches, they will remain connected to a central system to be able to take corrective action immediately, said Wainwright.