Telecom gear and solutions provider Cisco on Tuesday said it will continue to partner with service providers for 5G roll out in India, but also added that it will not compete with any of the operators, since they are already its customers.
“We are a technology provider and we know how to make our partners successful with our technology. Service providers are both our biggest customers and our partners. No, we are not going to become competitors who are our largest customers and partners,” Daisy Chittilapilly, President, Cisco India and SAARC, said here.
In fact, this may open up some very interesting go to market possibilities and that is where Cisco is going to stay very much focussed, she said.
“That was intention. The law requires us...the kind of service we want to offer combining voice with data...requires us to get this license which happens to be the same as telecom license,” she explained.
Cisco’s subsidiary Webex India had last month (September 13) received a telecom licence from the government that will enable it to provide enterprise grade national and international telecom connectivity. Webex has become the first over-the-top (OTT) player to get a telecom licence.
Dedicated India Webex infra
Meanwhile, Cisco also announced on Tuesday that it has invested in a dedicated India Webex infrastructure and necessary regulatory licenses to accelerate Webex adoption across the country.
“This is a significant milestone in our endeavour to power hybrid work at scale and speed. As more companies go hybrid, the demand for secure and adaptable hybrid work solutions will increase. With this investment we are looking to capture a growing market that is expected to reach over $250 million in India by 2025,” she said.
With dedicated India Webex infrastructure, Cisco can now offer enhanced performance at a much lower cost to customers, and empower their move to a successful hybrid working future, she added.
The dedicated India Webex infrastructure will enable Cisco to offer India-specific pricing for customers, lowering the cost by over 50 per cent. The development comes in response to the massive and permanent shift towards hybrid work models. According to Cisco Hybrid Work Study 2022, nearly three in four Indian employees favour a hybrid working environment in the future.