Tata Comm expands enterprise biz via cloud, IoT

Tata Communications Ltd signed up a number of Indian and global companies to provide cloud, mobility, video content, and internet-of-things (IoT) services in Q3, as part of the expansion of its enterprise portfolio.

The telecom operator partnered with UK-based ATP Media for live broadcast of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) tournaments through its global video-connect network, during the quarter. “We will facilitate super fast transfer of live content from on-site production to broadcasters, and onwards to the global tennis audience of ATP Media in over 200 territories,” Tata Communications said post Q3 results.

The Tata group company has improved its cloud platform and services called IZO to meet the rising demand for internet connectivity by enterprises globally. This will also help the telco gain market share in the US and Europe.

Tata Communications said it has signed a deal with a major coal mining and refining firm in India that will consolidate its information technology (IT) infrastructure comprising hosting, security, and network services under the IZO private cloud. The cloud platform will reduce tech costs, on-demand hardware scalability, and enable customers to store and use data safely.

“(Enterprise) customers are rapidly adopting the cloud and migrating workloads and apps from in-house data centres to the cloud… This is the reason why cloud and security are a big area of focus for us,” said A.S. Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communications.

Besides, Tata Communications has collaborated with South Africa’s MMD Mobility and IoT (MMD) with the latter using the telco’s cloud platform to provide connectivity to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and IoT service providers.

Tata Communications’ integration with the regional mobile network operator in Africa will help MMD provide improved connectivity to MVNOs accessing and implementing voice, data and SMS applications for its subscribers, and enterprises for their IoT use cases.

The company will continue to focus on aviation, auto original equipment manufacturers (OEMs ), and semi-conductors for growth in mobility and IoT businesses, said ICICI Securities in a research report.

"In airlines where it (Tata Communications) has won a few contracts. Covid has hit airlines hard, and execution has been pushed. In auto OEMs, which have seen some recovery, the company has won few new customers. And in semiconductors, which is a new segment, it has been pushing new solutions,” the brokerage firm said.

Tata Communications’ enterprise segment revenue rose 5.3% year-on-year to ₹2,200 crore in the third quarter, contributing 63% to global data revenues, and up from 62% last fiscal. But revenue fell 4.1% sequentially due to a seasonally-weak quarter and longer-than-expected customer deals amid the pandemic.

"Momentum from our enterprise business is maintained and showing an upward trend…We are witnessing early signs of pick up in enterprise demand but largely the conversion is taking longer than expected,” Lakshminarayanan said.

The company is working with customers in India and globally across banking, retail and automobile sectors, and it expects to close a few enterprise deals in the coming quarters.