Afila to invest $4 mn, double manpower

Afila Inc, a specialist in communications testing, as part of its expansion plans, will invest around $3 million to $4 million over the next 18 months and double its staff strength in India.

Established in 2001, Afila's expertise is in testing, validation and verification services. "The investments will be made in the development of infrastructure and test labs for leading technologies including Metro Ethernet, VoIP, security, triple play and testing for WiMax as well," Afila CEO and founder Amar Mutt told reporters here on Thursday.

Quoting a report of Frost and Sullivan (2005), he pointed out that the network-testing market revenues were set to grow at an annual rate of 6.8 per cent from $731.8 million in 2004 to $1.2 billion by 2011.

"The rapid growth is being fuelled by newer technologies including VoIP, Gigabit Ethernet, wireless LANs and VPNs. We hope to capture a bigger slice of the market," he added.

The company recorded revenues of $1.2 million in the 2005 calendar year. "By scaling up our operations, we intend to reach the $3.5 million mark in 2006. We have set a target of $16 million for 2009. To achieve the goal, we are expanding in a big way. The present work force of 140 will be doubled this year," Mutt stated.