RENNES, France -- Astellia, leading provider of monitoring solutions to maximize Quality of Service (QoS) management and performance of mobile networks, has announced the opening of a new office in Mumbai, India.

Strong growth in mobile telephony and deregulation of the sector

Over the past few years, India has experienced very strong growth in the number of mobile phone users, with almost twelve million new subscribers every month. Yet only one-third of the population currently owns a mobile phone, a total of 400 million users*. The Government is aiming at 500 million users by the end of 2010 and is working on the allocation of new 3G licences. At the same time, the Telecommunications Regulation Agency of India in India (TRAI) is finalising the introduction of number portability (allowing customers to change operator without changing their phone number). This is expected to be introduced gradually from Summer 2009 onwards.

Traditionally, market deregulation increases competitive pressure between the various operators. With clients becoming less “tied”, mobile operators are faced with problems of customer loyalty, often overcoming this by dropping their prices and increasing the quality of the services on offer (network access, call and data transmission and reception, communication stability etc.).

A proximity strategy to serve international expansion

For Astellia, the opening of a marketing office in Mumbai is happening at a key moment in the development of this sector in India where Quality of Service has acquired new significance. The setting-up of a dedicated team consisting of a VP Sales Manager and a Technical Pre-Sales Manager, both of them Indian, is designed initially to favour regular contacts with local operators, a vital first step in the development of commercial relations.

Astellia already has 5 other offices across the world (in Beirut, New York, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro and Singapore) and, in 2008, it achieved 66% of its turnover outside France, a growth of almost 50% compared to 2007. This international success is due mainly to clients in developing countries with which Astellia has successfully established relations based on proximity, thereby stimulating the deployment of its systems and technologies.

For Christian Queffelec, CEO and co-founder of Astellia, “Our sales cycles are seen in the long term. They include a number of preliminary commercial stages during which the geographical proximity of our teams is essential. It is with this in mind that we are entering this market at a major strategic turning point for mobile operators. Astellia has a portfolio of innovative, multi-technology solutions that enable operators to face the challenges arising from growth, technological changes and the deregulation of the sector. Together, these challenges constitute a complex process with which we are well-acquainted. We shall therefore continue Astellia’s development on the international market with our usual confidence and patience”.

Astellia