The telecom arm of the diversified Tata Group, Tata Communications, is looking West — specifically at the United States and Europe — in pursuit of new markets to set up cyber security centres.

Confirming this expansion roadmap to CNBC-TV18, Srinivasan CR, chief digital officer, Tata Communications said, "We are expanding to Europe and the US, and want to be as close to our customers as possible."

The Europe centre, a Tata Communications release said, will allow the company to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. The US facility is expected to be launched next year.

The announcement comes even as Tata Communications unveiled its latest cyber security response centre, in Chennai.

At present, the company has four cyber security centres across the world — in Dubai, Singapore, Pune and now, Chennai.

"The Chennai launch will obviously help us serve the Indian geography better, especially given that it’s our home market," said Srinivasan.

A couple of years ago, Tata Communications committed a $50 million investment towards expansion of its cyber security centres.

Breaking down that investment plan, Srinivasan said, "Every centre that we build costs us roughly a couple of million of dollars, to set up the physical facility."

He added, "We also need to add skills in each geography. So, we will continue to invest big in some of these facilities."

Once Tata Communication’s US and Europe cyber security centres are operational, the company is expected to take a call on scope for expansion within both markets.

First Published:Sept 27, 2018 6:00 PM IST