Tata Communications Extends WAN Ethernet Service to China

September 10, 2009

- The Global Leader in WAN Ethernet Services Expands its High Speed, Flexible and Cost-Effective Ethernet to Enterprises and Carriers in China

MUMBAI, India, September 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, announced today that it has extended its Ethernet service portfolio into China, with immediate availability. Tata Communications will provide market-leading Ethernet services to global enterprises and carriers wanting to connect China with major global business centers worldwide, and builds on its existing MPLS and IPLC capabilities in the country.

Through an alliance and proven network interoperability with Beijing-based value-added telecoms services and integrated IT solutions provider China Enterprise Communications (CEC), Tata Communications now offers the reliability, security, flexibility, and manageability of its Dedicated Ethernet and Priority Ethernet line of services into the Chinese market. Many companies today use Tata Communications' MEF certified Ethernet services to simplify their network and reduce their costs. Now the superior Ethernet capabilities of Tata Communications are also available to China, adding to the existing footprint of over 200 cities across 31 on-net countries.

The service will provide global point to point, point to multipoint, and multipoint Ethernet coverage to China's largest business centers of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with the option of either PoP-to-PoP or end-to-end service guarantees.

James Walker, Tata Communications' Vice President for Global VPN Services, sees the service's launch as a milestone.

"With the extension of coverage into China, Tata Communications is no longer just the leader in global Ethernet services- we ace the competition in Asia Pacific too. China is the world's fastest growing trading nation and combined with our deep coverage in India, Tata Communications is providing Ethernet coverage into two of the most dynamic economies in the world and onwards to all major business locations in 31 countries. We are pleased that our suite of advanced connectivity solutions will play a pivotal role in the continued growth of China and India," said Walker.

Ms. Sun Yinghong, China Enterprise Communication's Chief Operating Officer of CEC, said, "This partnership allows us to build on our extensive network reach to link even more Chinese MNCs to the world through superior Ethernet services. Innovative solutions go further with meaningful alliances, and we have greatly benefited from our collaboration with Tata Communications."

"Enterprises are increasingly adopting Ethernet services to manage their burgeoning bandwidth requirements in a cost effective manner," said Jayesh Easwaramony, Director, ICT Consulting and Head of Telecoms Research Asia Pacific. "Enterprises and service providers looking to connect locations across critical market hubs, like China, now have a high bandwidth Ethernet option from a service provider that combines global reach and emerging markets expertise."

Tata Communications' Ethernet service portfolio has points of presence in the US, Canada, 13 European countries, Russia, Qatar, UAE, South Africa, and now 12 countries in Asia Pacific, with new locations being added regularly.

For more details about Tata Communications' WAN Ethernet service, visit http://www.tatacommunications.com/enterprise/network/ethernet.asp

Read about other recent Tata Communications' Ethernet service enhancements:

Tata Communications Launches Global 10 Gigabit Ethernet Service (http://pressreleases.merinews.com/article/tata-communications-launches-globa l-10-gigabit-ethernet-service/15776770.shtml)

Etisalat & Tata Communications introduce advanced communication services in UAE (http://www.tatacommunications.com/news/release-view.asp?d=20090302-etisalat)

Qtel and Tata Communications Collaborate to Offer Global Connectivity Services (http://www.tatacommunications.com/news/files/20090608-qtel.htm)

(Due to the length of these URLs, it may be necessary to copy and paste the hyperlinks into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

Learn more about Tata Communications Ethernet strategy for Emerging Markets:

http://www.tatacommunications.com/broadcast/newsletter/emea/podcast.asp

About China Enterprise Communications

As one of the value-added communication solution providers, China Entercom (CEC) has a strong financial and regulatory background due to the major shareholders being China International Trust and Investment Corporation Group (CITIC) and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

As an agile ICT service provider in China, CEC provides total turnkey data network services and solutions that support application-oriented network infrastructure, value-added service, e-commerce, and etc. CEC's nationwide backbone network covers most major cities in China, which is managed by highly skilled 7X24 technical support staff and backed by advanced proactive network monitoring system. All network services come with Service Level Guaranteed (SLG), in line with international service standards.

China Entercom's headquarters are located in Beijing and there are regional branch offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen. With the increase of China Entercom's international partner business, a subsidiary company for both sales and operations has been established in Hong Kong. Due to the highly professional and experienced personnel and management team within China Entercom, China Entercom has been able to expand its service coverage to Tianjin, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen, Dongguan and other major provincial cities.

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.

Tata Communications' depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services, leadership in global international voice, and strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka Limited), Nepal (United Telecom Limited), and subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications)

Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (NYSE: TCL)

http://www.tatacommunications.com

Forward-looking and cautionary statements

Certain words and statements in this release concerning Tata Communications and its prospects, and other statements, including those relating to Tata Communications' expected financial position, business strategy, the future development of Tata Communications' operations, and the general economy in India, are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including financial, regulatory and environmental, as well as those relating to industry growth and trend projections, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Tata Communications, or industry results, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include, among others, failure to increase the volume of traffic on Tata Communications' network; failure to develop new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; failure to successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services, including voice transmission services; failure to stabilize or reduce the rate of price compression on certain of the company's communications services; failure to integrate strategic acquisitions and changes in government policies or regulations of India and, in particular, changes relating to the administration of Tata Communications' industry; and, in general, the economic, business and credit conditions in India. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, many of which are not in Tata Communications' control, include, but are not limited to, those risk factors discussed in Tata Communications' various filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at http://www.sec.gov. Tata Communications is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, updates or alters its forward-looking statements.

    
    Media Contacts:
    Harpreet Jabbara
    Tata Communications
    +91-925-000-1787
    harpreet.jabbara@tatacommunications.com
 
    Janice Goveas
    Tata Communications
    +91-922-339-4575
    janice.goveas@tatacommunications.com
 
    David Chin
    Hill & Knowlton
    +65-9694-5589
    david.chin@hillandknowlton.com.sg