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Press Release
| Isabelle Turcotte Tata Communications +1-514-868-7505 isabelle.turcotte@tatacommunications.com |
Janice Goveas Tata Communications +91 92233 94575 janice.goveas@tatacommunications.com |
Danny Lim Hill & Knowlton Singapore for Tata Communications +65 6390 3360 danny.lim@hillandknowlton.com.sg |
Tata Communications Takes Proactive Steps to Reduce False Answer Supervision
A leading communications carrier is sending a clear signal that False Answer Supervision (FAS) should not be tolerated
Mumbai – October 8, 2009 – Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications and chair of the Global FAS forum, an industry wide forum formed to deal with the growing problem of False Answer Supervision (FAS), today announced that it has disconnected several carriers as part of its proactive actions to stamp out this form of fraud in the industry.
FAS occurs when the calling party:
- is charged for a completed call even though the call was never connected
- is charged for call set-up time rather than actual conversation time
- is charged for his service provider's deliberate attempt to re-route his call to automated messaging platforms
Incidents of FAS have soared in the past few months to become a global industry problem, with the most rampant fraud in regions with high termination rates and many competing suppliers. Combating FAS is complicated by the many carriers reselling routes from other suppliers, making it hard to trace the fraud to its source.
Daniel Bergeron, Tata Communications' Sr.Vice-President of Voice Commercial Operations, said: "FAS incidents have increased significantly over the past year. It is important to implement measures against FAS as it affects network performance quality, increases billing dispute resolution times and customer care costs. Service providers who indulge in FAS threaten networks of all suppliers and their users, and should not be tolerated."
Tata Communications plans to deploy automatic FAS detection capabilities in its network and take steps to prevent FAS. These steps include mandating that customers and suppliers use compliant VoIP platforms to connect to the Tata Communications network, conducting billing accuracy tests for new suppliers, and encouraging suppliers to adopt single-second billing intervals to reduce FAS occurrence. Tata Communications will also collaborate with global authorities to eradicate FAS.
On an industry level, Tata Communications is leading efforts against FAS by setting up and chairing the global FAS Forum. The forum, made up of the world's top 10 wholesale Voice carriers, provides educational outreach on FAS and a unified approach to developing and implementing steps to tackle the problem.
"We hope Tata Communications' initiative to create the FAS Forum, along with the actions we are announcing today, will encourage carriers to clean up their act, transform the industry and ultimately bill consumers fairly for quality calls," said Bergeron.
About Tata Communications
Tata Communications is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.
The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.
Tata Communications' depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services, leadership in global international voice, and strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka Limited), Nepal (United Telecom Limited), and subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications)
Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (NYSE: TCL)
www.tatacommunications.com
Forward-looking and cautionary statements
Certain words and statements in this release concerning Tata Communications and its prospects, and other statements, including those relating to Tata Communications' expected financial position, business strategy, the future development of Tata Communications' operations, and the general economy in India, are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including financial, regulatory and environmental, as well as those relating to industry growth and trend projections, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Tata Communications, or industry results, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include, among others, failure to increase the volume of traffic on Tata Communications' network; failure to develop new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; failure to successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services, including voice transmission services; failure to stabilize or reduce the rate of price compression on certain of the company's communications services; failure to integrate strategic acquisitions and changes in government policies or regulations of India and, in particular, changes relating to the administration of Tata Communications' industry; and, in general, the economic, business and credit conditions in India. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, many of which are not in Tata Communications' control, include, but are not limited to, those risk factors discussed in Tata Communications' various filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Tata Communications is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, updates or alters its forward-looking statements.
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