Indian operator aims to stimulate market for high-end videoconferencing by opening public telepresence rooms in major cities.

Tata Communications plans to build public telepresence rooms for hourly hire in approximately 100 cities worldwide by the end of 2009, according to Peter Quinlan, director for telepresence managed services at Tata Communications.

The Indian operator is a new entrant to the nascent high-end video conferencing market.

It launched its first private managed telepresence service on 1 July, and at the end of that month opened public telepresence rooms in the Mumbai and Bangalore branches of the Taj Hotel group, via a deal that will see the pair share installation costs and revenues. Tata also opened public telepresence rooms in Chennai and Hyderabad in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry and Cisco.

The telco also plans to add Delhi to its footprint, and in September will open rooms in London and Boston, again in association with the Taj Hotel. New York will follow.

"We want to be in every major city in the world by the end of 2009," said Quinlan, which, he explains, equates to approximately 100 rooms.

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