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Vishwanath Kulkarni

Bangalore, Sept. 14 Telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks, as part of a strategy to consolidate its global networks operations, is setting up a virtual network operations centre in (V-NOC) in Bangalore to manage the backbone network and switches of its customers in North America and Europe.

Nortel is currently restructuring its business with an aim to reduce cost and turn profitable.

Mr Dietmar Wendt, President (Global Services), Nortel, said the virtual NOC in Bangalore is expected to go live by December and would support about 140 customers including carriers and enterprises that are currently being serviced from NOCs in Rayleigh and London.

The V-NOC in Bangalore, which will employ up to 100 people, is the second such centre for Nortel in India, which already runs a NOC in Gurgaon that manages the telephone networks of customers such as Bharti Enterprises and CLSA in India and the Asia-Pacific region. “Besides reducing the cost structure, the V-NOC helps Nortel to leverage available skills and be closer to customers in Asia Pacific, the fastest growing region,” Mr Wendt said.

Operating a virtual NOC in India reduces its costs by 30-35 per cent, as compared to running similar operations in the US or Europe. “There will be transition costs as customers get shifted here,” Mr Wendt said, adding that the company would retain its operations in Rayleigh and London to service some customers.

The loss-making Nortel is shifting jobs to low-cost, high-growth countries like India, Mexico and Turkey. For the June quarter, Nortel posted a loss of $113 million on revenues of $2.62 billion.

The managed services business is one of the fastest growing segments for Nortel’s $2.2-billion services business worldwide.

Nortel is also exploring options to set up a multimedia network operations centre in India, its ninth worldwide, as the usage of internet and data goes up in the country, Mr Wendt said.

A multimedia network operations centre would manage, store, distribute and archive multimedia content, communication and video conferencing sessions for its customers and currently the India market is being serviced by such a centre in Beijing.

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