As the Sunil Mittal’s expansion plans of Africa are high in the air, India’s Tata Communications is on equal footing with its investment plans in new companies in the African continent. The Indian firm that already has 56 percent stake in South Africa’s fixed line operator Neotel is now eyeing East and West Africa to harness the new submarine cable systems in the region.

There are three major cable systems in the SA  greatly leveraging its international connectivity. This includes the existing Seacom cable of which Tata has already purchased the wholesale capacity and the West African Cable System and the East African Submarine Cable, that are due to come into operation over the next two years. According to Tata , these systems will open up more investment opportunities in the western region of Africa that it considers presently lacking in the required infrastructure for dissemination of its communication services. The company is teaming up with local agents of different African regions to provide applications for voice and data connectivity and management.

Raman Dhawan, Tata’s Africa Holdings managing director, said that ‘as China was making inroads into the African ICT market through ZTE and Huawei Technologies, a possible way for India to increase its presence in Africa was for the private and public companies to join hands.’

Tata is also planning to use Neotel’s network to expand to other countries within the Southern Africa region. The sixth India-Africa business conclave has also highlighted the bilateral trade opportunities between the two regions. With Tata and Airtel already venturing into the emerging telecommunication market of Africa, and Indian government funding ICT projects in the region, the Indian communication companies have huge business prospects to capitalize on.

Image credits: chairmanking, topnews

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