Reliance bags $100-m Deutsche Telekom deal

Mumbai, June 21: Reliance Infocomm’s international network transport and communication service providing company, Flag Telecom, has bagged Deutsche Telekom’s bandwidth contract worth $80-100 million. The contract had reportedly attracted bids from Tata Group company Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), Cable & Wireless and Singtel.

The order, which sources said is the biggest till date, is to buy bandwidth under the sea between Europe and the US for Deutsche Telekom's retail broadband business all over Europe. Reliance

Infocomm officials, however, declined to comment on the deal.

“This is the one among the largest bandwidth contract ever won by a service provider. This is also the single largest enterprise contract won by a company. The contract is for a capacity of 150-200 GB,” said an industry source. The source also added that all those players who are in broadband business were eyeing the contract.

“The final formalities of the contract is on. This essentially means that Flag has won the contract, only the modalities have to be worked out,” pointed out the source. The bandwidth required by Deutsche Telekom is 3-4 times more than what is available in India. In India, the maximum bandwidth available is around 40-50 GB, the source added.