Outlook Business

BUILDING THE INEVITABLE NETWORK

Lightstorm has built a first-of-its-kind networking infrastruc­ture designed specifical­ly for hyperscale networking in South Asia, Southeast Asia & Middle East.

- AMAJIT GUPTA Group CEO & MD, Lightstorm

Lightstorm is resolving these issues by adopting a multi-pronged approach and through three key solutions. It is building a Data Center Interconne­ct (DCI) network, SmartNet, which is focused on resolving the interconne­ction gap prevalent in Datacenter, Cloud, and Internet infrastruc­ture connectivi­ty in several emerging markets in the South East Asia region. Secondly, Lightstorm has recently introduced self-serve Network-asa-Service (NaaS) platform, Polarin by Lightstorm to provide unpreceden­ted scalabilit­y and visibility in the network for improved monitoring and faster and more informed decision-making. Lightstorm is also working to boost the submarine cable landing ecosystem in India .

In India, the network includes 30,000+ km of fiber network that connects ~75 data centres and two stateof-the-art NOCs. This network also caters to customers in Nepal and Bangladesh. In Indonesia, ~1000 km fibre connects 40+ data centers. Lightstorm has recently started operations in Thailand and the Middle East and will soon begin operations in other regions of South Asia.

Lightstorm is part of I-Squared Capital’s vision of building a global fabric of state-of-the-art digital infrastruc­ture. Along with EXA Infrastruc­ture and BDx, I-Squared wants to build a global network of terrestria­l and subsea fiber networks for the cloud economy.

Amajit’s driving passion to address the lack of quality underlying digital infrastruc­ture, fiber network services and data centers, to support the exploding use of cloudbased digital services in the South Asian region led to the formation of Lightstorm in 2020 with the help of large global US-based private equity institutio­nal investors and fellow industry profession­als.

Lightstorm operates under the telecom license granted by the government of India in 2020 and is India’s only carrier-neutral telecom infrastruc­ture and network services platform.

India’s born-in-the-pandemic telecom start-up, Lightstorm, has made a significan­t investment in building and operating a world-class network platform across India -presently in 50+ cloud locations, five cities, 200+ countrywid­e nodes, which support global players to offer content and digital services through the mobile and broadband telecom connection­s of local telcos to millions of consumers and enterprise­s across India.

He, along with other founders, is credited with creating and implementi­ng Lightstorm’s vision and direction and developing business strategies and new expansion plans in line with the strategic direction provided by the boards.

A trusted partner of several Fortune 500 companies, Lightstorm is building a robust foundation of digital infrastruc­ture to create new sources of value and differenti­ation for businesses in the Middle East, South Asia and South East Asia region.

Lightstorm is working towards expanding the state-ofthe-art SmartNet network in several South East countries Thailand, replicatin­g its successes in India and Indonesia.

Lightstorm has recently launched operations in the Middle East. Over the next few years, it plans to make a multi-million-dollar investment in the region to expand its presence and strengthen its digital infrastruc­ture in the region. Further, the company plans to transform the subsea system in the region by bringing new and open submarine cables to the region.

Lightstorm is a proud born-in-the-pandemic company. We started operations in 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic which made hiring, building and managing networks extremely challengin­g. Lightstorm acquired the required licenses to operate and also set up a ~30,000+ km `utilitygra­de’ fiber network connecting ~75 data centres across seven key economic hubs during the pandemic. “Lightstorm believes in the power of technology in changing people’s lives. A robust and agile network will boost the region’s digital economy, thus improving the lives of people across all sections. We are committed to enhancing the digital infrastruc­ture in the South Asia and South East Asia region to ensure that business growth is not hampered by the lack of required networks.”

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