The decision will help the company offer bandwidth as well as data centre services, through its subsidiary Netmagic, a provider of end-to-end cloud computing solutions. Once completed the newly expanded network will allow NTT to compete with the likes of Tata Communications, Airtel and Sify, to offer connectivity to the international cable landing station in Mumbai.
“We are planning to bring international fibre to India at some point of time,” said Sharad Sanghi (pictured), MD and CEO of Netmagic to BusinessLine. “Once that happens, we will also look at offering broadband connectivity to telecom companies. As and when that happens, there will be a lot of demand for data centre services along with bandwidth.”
Due to India consuming the most internet bandwidth anywhere in the world, the expansion will also present NTT with the opportunity to develop their own cable landing station in India.
“There is a huge demand for connectivity in India,” added Sanghi. “As soon as new capacity is created through sub-sea cables, it is consumed in no time. Our own landing station in India will be a big growth driver for our data centre co-location services. If someone wants 1Tbps capacity, they would need to buy last-mile connectivity from co-location site to landing station. If we already have our facility connected to our own landing station, the customer will save that cost.”
The company is said to be in the process of applying for an International Long Distance (ILD) licence that’ll allow the company to offer broadband services.
The news also supports the two data centres Netmagic launched two years ago for a total of ₹1,200 crore ($168 million). The first was launched in in Mumbai and the second in Bengaluru – both are now operational.
“Our new Mumbai facility is already 100% occupied while the Bengaluru facility is 80% occupied. We’ve already started work on another facility in Mumbai and will have four more new data centres in India in the next five years,” added Sanghi
