K.V. Kurmanath

Hyderabad, Nov. 28 With the levels of higher education in India continuing to be at a low of 13 per cent, Tandberg Visual Communications Company of Norway has decided to talk to University Grants Commission, Indian Space Research Organisation and academic institutions to reach out to a large audience and experience faculty.

The company, a leader in high-definition video conferencing and mobile video solutions, has deputed two top executives to the Association of Commonwealth Universities Conference, being held here, to speak on the use of video-conferencing solutions in distance education.

The company, which approximately earned $100 million (in a total of $650 m), from the education vertical globally last year, opened offices in Mumbai, Delhi and a research and development centre in Bangalore.

“The penetration of higher education should be about 25 per cent if India wants to be a developed nation,” Ms Jan Zanetis, Marketing Manager of Education of Tandberg, told Business Line.

Tandberg already sells its video-conference solutions to manufacturing, banking, finance, information technology, oil and healthcare sectors. “This meeting would kick-start our initiatives in the education vertical,” Ms Jeane Lim, Director of Marketing (Asia Pacific), said.

Tandberg is also involved in State-wide Area Network initiative of the Union Government envisaged to provide connectivity up to the block level.

Ms Zanetis said that the solutions could help utilise educational resources in resources-poor locations.

Tandberg is currently working with Microsoft and Apple to develop video-conferencing products that will enable users to keep in touch with the world on their laptops and hand-held devices such as iPods.

“We are co-developing a web camera with Microsoft at our Bangalore research centre. This will enable users to have quality web-conferencing on their laptops,” Ms Lim said.

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