Bangalore: Large enterprises fuelled by the boom in IT and outsourcing services, will drive the demand for telecom services in India, but the country must improve the quality of its corporate data services, which lags far behind international standards, IT research firm Gartner said today (Dec 11, 2003).

Gartner, in a survey of 139 network managers in MNCs, rated VSNL significantly below the industry average for international leased lines and for local lines, both VSJL and MTNL was rated lowest among 20 major Asian carriers.

"India still has a long way to go in terms of telecom service quality," Gartner Principal Telecom Analyst Chee Eng said in a statement in Bangalore.

"The country needs to improve its service quality quickly if it wants to be the IT and outsourcing hub for multinational corporations," Chee said.

The 139 network managers evaluated services based on reliability, performance, support, installation and repairs, optional features and pricing, Gartner said.

However, Gartner identified some bright spots, despite the last mile continuing to be the weakest link.

"International service quality has actually improved. But it's inconsistent, often due to problems in the local access lines. Prices have also come down significantly. They are far from cheap, but are not expensive either -- even by Asian standards," Co-author of the Gartner report and Principal Telecom Analyst, Kobita Desai said.

PTI