Orange Business Services, on Wednesday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Tata Communications to expand its network footprint in India. The Network-to-Network Interconnect (NNI) agreement is part of a strategic partnership between the two companies and will increase Orange domestic coverage ten-fold to over 120 cities to meet customer demand.

The NNI will enable Orange to utilize Tata Communications’ 120 points of presence (PoPs), extending Orange Business Services’ reach to tier-two and tier-three cities such as Pune, Bhopal and Ernakulam. The increased domestic footprint of the Orange network in India is particularly suited to support the expansion plans of global multinational customers looking to connect to the farthest corners of India with robust and reliable network services, featuring global service level agreements (SLA) and straightforward billing.

It also includes access to Orange Business VPN – a fully secured and managed network solution that allows data, voice and video to run on the same IP-based MPLS network – from all locations covered by this network agreement.

“Enterprises are looking for global expansion opportunities and need a reliable network that allows them to meet end-user demands for digital transformation and innovative services, such as cloud computing, unified communications and M2M. This partnership will enable us to offer customers wider and more competitive end-to-end, fully managed network services as they expand within India. With the partnership, we are well equipped to address the requirements of our global and domestic customers,” said Christopher Ozer, Head of Global Communications Solutions – Asia Pacific, Orange Business Services.

“As India continues to make waves as an emerging market powerhouse, there continues to be rapid expansion of international business into India. These companies require a strong network provider which is critical for these ambitions. This strategic partnership is underpinned by our extensive global network, including the first wholly-owned fibre ring around the world. It interconnects Orange Business Services with our domestic network in India, enabling them to serve international and domestic enterprises with our best-in-class network services,” said Conor Carroll, Senior Vice President Europe, Asia and the Americas, Tata Communications.

Orange Business Services has been present in India for more than 40 years and has accelerated its operations in the country over the last few years to meet the growing network and IT services demands of local and foreign multinationals. Being an International and National Long Distance (ILD-NLD) operator and holding an Internet Service Provider (ISP) license in India, Orange is well positioned to provide a full range of services, from desktop integration to international networks, to enterprise customers. Orange currently has more than 600 multinational customers in India.

Orange Business Services is a global telecommunications operator with one of the world’s largest seamless networks, providing managed and secure connectivity solutions in more than 220 countries and territories.