VSNL mulls foray into grid computing

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is mulling foraying into grid computing, banking on its recent acquisitions of Teleglobe International Holdings Ltd and Tyco Global Network (TGN).

The Internet and telephony major would also rope in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) for its expertise in software and services sector.

"Grid computing is an opportunity that we are pursuing. This needs a vast network connectivity and huge amount of bandwidth, which will be met through TGN and Teleglobe," sources in VSNL said.

If finalised, VSNL would become the first carrier to venture into grid computing, a method that harnesses unused processing cycles of all computers in a network. This method saves both resources and time, and is beneficial for enterprise-wide usage.

The company expects the venture to kick-start within the next 12 months, if the process gets board approval.

VSNL is looking at offering grid computing services to enterprises both in India and abroad and would also rope in TCS for the venture.

It is also looking at tying up with global IT majors like IBM and Microsoft, if necessary, to provide service to other parts of the world.

The takeover of US-based TGN had given VSNL a submarine cable network spanning over 60,000 km and with points of presence (PoPs) in North America, Europe and Asia.

VSNL had acquired TGN on November 1, 2004.

This coupled with the proposed acquisition of Teleglobe, a carrier major with services in over 240 countries and ownership interests in over 80 sub-sea and terrestrial cables, would give VSNL a global presence. The Tata group company had announced the takeover of Teleglobe for $239 million on Monday, which is expected to be completed in another six-eight months.

The company will use the network of its recently launched Tata Indicom Chennai-Singapore Cable (TIC), spanning around 3,100 km, for its grid computing purposes.

"An integration of the cables, on the services front, is what we are looking at. However, nothing has been finalised as plans are still on the drawing board," they said.