Juniper sets eye on Indian telecom market

Aims to make more end-to-end products

After Cisco systems' $50 million investment in Bangalore facility with a capacity to take 3,000 people, it is now the turn of its rival Juniper Network Inc., to act. The company is planning to tap the telecommunication sector in India and is at present serving world's 25 telecom carriers.

The California-based data networking company is planning to grow with an aim to make and own end to end products out of India. With the opening up of its new Bangalore development centre it aims to fully develop and design the products and increase its headcount from the present 325 to 675 by next year or early 2007.

"By next year or by early 2007 we should be 675," said Sam Srinivas, chief technologist, Juniper India.

The $8.5 million facility will integrate employees located at present in two different facilities and will focus on engineering works along with hardware and software development and system testing. The company is already into end to end products.

Recently, the company had made a router mobile on web browser for Swedish company Ericsson.The company like Cisco is planning to tap the telecommunication sector in India which is witnessing stupendous growth.

Juniper, which started with making core routers, is a key player in edge routers and broadband aggregation routers. At present, the core routers segment has half of the global market share and it is number two in edge routers.

Juniper reported revenues of $1.3 billion in 2004, up by 91 per cent from 2003, and $546 million in the third quarter of 2005, up 11 per cent from that of the second quarter. The company has a staff strength of 3,784 employees in 70 countries and development centres outside of US in China, India and Isarel.