Florham Park, NJ -- Nov 23, 2004 -- Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) and Sify (NASDAQ: SIFY) India's premier Internet, networks and eCommerce services, company, have agreed to interconnect their MPLS-based IP networks using Global Crossing's iMPLS™ interprovider connection service, extending service reach across each other's networks. Customers of either provider will be able to seamlessly scale and provision converged IP and data services including VoIP, IP Video, and Internet access across IP VPN connections to any endpoint in the networks' combined footprint. Effective October 18, Global Crossing IP VPN customers gained access to 63 major commercial centers in India, while Sify gained worldwide service reach to more than 50 countries and 500 major cities.
"India is a key contributor to global commerce and high technology, and a vital communications landing-point in Asia," said John Legere, Global Crossing's CEO. "We're pleased to offer Global Crossing customers more flexible access to the Indian market in partnership with one of India's best-known and most advanced network service providers."
Mr. R. Ramaraj, CEO of Sify Limited said, "With growth in the scale and scope of Indian business, many of our customers require global connectivity today, or will do so in the near future. The rapidly growing markets for IT services and business process outsourcing also require high quality global connectivity solutions. The interconnect agreement with Global Crossing will enable us to offer global IP VPN connectivity with industry-leading quality of service to our customers and the growing Indian market."
"Sify is a major force in India," adds Anthony Christie, Global Crossing's CMO. "Within their region, their all-optical MPLS network is technically comparable to our own, enabling high-level iMPLS interconnection with end-to-end class of service and QoS mapping. The result lets us offer our global customers unmatched quality of IP VPN and VoIP connectivity and seamless service in this key strategic region."
OVUM, a Global Telecommunications and Technology Research Firm, has estimated a more than two-fold rate of growth for the IP VPN market in India between 2004 and 2008, increasing in size from $163 million to $400 million.
Founded six years ago, Sify has surged to prominence in India as a provider of diverse advanced network, hosting and managed services, delivered from a common, IP/MPLS-based converged network platform. They presently serve more than 800 corporate customers and are the leader in IP VPN services in India. Sify subsidiaries offer broadband and dialup Internet access, operate a nationwide chain of cybercafes, host Web and application servers, and run a popular nationwide portal with entertainment and media partners.
"This partnership between Global Crossing and Sify exemplifies how Global Crossing's iMPLS service can enable third-party service providers to augment their own local or regional MPLS-based IP reach. At the same time, Global Crossing can use iMPLS to augment its enterprise customer facilities in places its network does not reach directly," stated Brian Washburn, senior analyst at Current Analysis. "Global Crossing iMPLS Service is breaking into territory that MPLS IP VPN network operators have previously found daunting."
Global Crossing's iMPLS service enables seamless, reliable, scalable MPLS-based IP VPN service expansion by carriers and service providers, across Global Crossing's worldwide network, speeding time-to-market and minimizing capital investment. The interprovider interconnection preserves QoS, traffic prioritization and endpoint visibility, permitting end-to-end SLAs and enabling applications such as VoIP and IP Video to work reliably across the connected networks. Global Crossing iMPLS also gives interconnected carriers access to a menu of customizable managed-service offerings for IP VPN, VoIP, IP Video and other applications in Global Crossing's Fast Track™ carrier services portfolio.
Carrier and enterprise customers can create secure, private intranets and extranets globally with Global Crossing's IP VPN Service. It's a perfect solution for moving traffic such as e-mail, e-commerce, streaming video and/or other data applications between multiple sites across the Global Crossing worldwide network based on differentiated Quality of Service (QoS) across multiple Classes of Service (CoS) on MPLS and is ideally suited for global enterprises that want to converge data, video, and voice onto one connection.
About Global Crossing
Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 6 continents around the globe. The company's global sales and support model matches the network footprint and, like the network, delivers a consistent customer experience worldwide.
About Sify
Sify is among the largest Internet, network and e-Commerce services companies in India, offering end-to-end solutions with a comprehensive range of products delivered over a common Internet backbone infrastructure. This Internet backbone reaches 67 cities in India. A significant part of the company's revenue is derived from Corporate Services, which include corporate connectivity, network and communications solutions, security, network management services and hosting. A host of blue chip customers use Sify's corporate service offerings. Consumer services include broadband home access, dial up connectivity and the iWay cyber café chain across 67 cities. The company's network services, data center operations, customer relationship management and eLearning services are accredited ISO 9001:2000.
