Nortel eyes government business

After servicing telecom operators and software companies in the Indian private sector, the Canada-based networking major Nortel Network Corp now eyes the business pie in the government sector.

On his first India visit as the chief executive officer of Nortel, Bill Owen told media persons here: "We have already worked with public institutions such as the Bombay Stock Exchange. Now we would like to work with state governments and defence in the areas of fibre optics and broadband."

On a week-long visit to India, Owen has already met key persons in various ministries in the Capital who have evinced interest in partnerships with Nortel.

Nortel has been in India for the last 15 years. Today it serves companies like Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), Reliance and Bharti Telecom in the area of fibre network.

It had invested $10 million in Sasken Technologies.

Following this acquisition, Nortel is on the lookout for similar stakes and does not rule out the possibility of further strategic investments in India.

Nortel, one of the world's largest telecom equipment provider, is also into enterprise business solutions.

The company outsources $6 billion worth of business annually and India has been one of the major beneficiaries.

Owen said this helps the company rationalise its cost structure.

He admitted that even the best software companies are no match for Chinese prices but factors like quality and innovation would be the differentiators. Owen said Nortel is expanding into newer areas of business.

It recently acquired the Washington-based PEC for $450 million. This company provides software solutions for e-governance.

Owen sees the e-governance as a $60 billion market and feels that the company commands at least $10 billion of the market share.

Apart from e-governance, the company is looking to work on network security solutions and multi-managed services.