IBM announced a deal with Datacom Solutions, part of Videocon Industries group to provide a high-performance IT infrastructure and a range of business solutions to support Datacoms commercial launch this year and complete PAN India coverage over next two years. This partnership will help the telco to accelerate time-to- market for new services, adapt quickly to meet future market requirements, reduce operating expenditures and enhancing customer satisfaction levels.

Datacom's investment in IBM's Service Assurance solution, built on IBMs Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE) telecom industry framework, will provide them with leading Service Management and monitoring of critical services, application and network-based systems. This technology investment will provide Datacom an edge in a multi-vendor and multi-technology environment to monitor and manage the Core GSM and IP networks.

As a new entrant into the telecom market in India, we understand the significance of partnering with a company that can provide the necessary impetus for growth in this intensely competitive market, said V.N. Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Group. Our obvious choice was IBM as it has an unmatched track record of building leadership in telecom in markets not only in India but worldwide. More importantly, we strongly feel that their vast industry experience and insights will be critical in achieving our ambitious growth target."

Datacom has received pan India UAS licenses and plans to roll out GSM services across the country. Having received spectrum in most circles, the company plans to launch its services in four circles this year and expand in other circles by the end of 2010. Additionally, Datacom has applied for National Long Distance (NLD) and International Long Distance (ILD) licenses and plans to establish a pan India network for NLD as well as ILD gateways. The enterprise segment of the telecom market is an area of focus for Datacom where it looks to carve a niche for itself.

The collaboration with IBM will give Datacom a powerful, secure and agile technology infrastructure benchmarked against the international telecommunications industry standards. said Avinash V. Joshi, director for Communications sector, IBM India and South Asia.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the wireless subscriber base increased from 415 million in May 09 to 427 million at the end of June 09 at a monthly growth rate of 2.9 percent. Subscription levels are currently witnessing higher growth rates in the underserved C category circles. To enable Datacom to garner substantial market share, IBM will provide technology and associated services, to build business solutions for billing, customer care and value-added services such as a Service Delivery Platform all built on top of IBMs industry framework, SPDE. This will allow Datacom to focus on its core business which is subscriber growth and customer satisfaction.