Previously, Tata provided international gateway services to large ISPs, but the company has set up a POP (point of presence) in Nairobi to route traffic to other African countries without passing through London.

"Tata has purchased wholesale capacity on SEACOM cable and will leverage on its global network to provide fully integrated services across Africa," said Claude Sassoulas, managing director for Europe and Africa Global Data and Mobility Solutions at Tata Communications. "Our presence in Africa provides our customers with the ability to build their own businesses in this market, supported by high-performance voice and data services."

Tata is partnering with local agents across eastern, central and southern Africa to provide applications for voice and data connectivity, content distribution, collaboration services such as telepresence, managed security services, application traffic optimization and management.

Apart from the capacity on SEACOM, Tata is planning to use Neotel's network to expand to other countries within southern Africa. Neotel is South Africa's second fixed-line provider and recently expanded its infrastructure in southern Africa. Tata Communications owns a 56 percent stake in Neotel.

The POP, which will be set up at a secure location in Nairobi, will provide Ethernet connectivity across Africa, linking corporations with offices that need bandwidth at cost-effective rates.