It’s the Rent-A-Center of videoconferencing.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Tata Communications (TCL) have joined forces to open 100 public TelePresence centers in the U.S. and U.K. by year’s end.
These centers, at which videoconferencing rooms can be rented for $299 to $899 per hour, have already opened their doors in Boston, London and Santa Clara, Calif.
In May, Cisco’s CEO John Chambers predicted 12 to 17 percent year-over-year growth as Cisco heads into its fourth quarter. The key drivers, he said at the time, will be adoption of applications such as unified communications and telepresence by enterprises and service providers.
Chambers has also pushed the message that Cisco is increasingly going to get into the service spaces, and recently mentioned part of that strategy will include partnering with Indian companies.
Tata is a carrier out of India, and it’s opened five TelePresence centers in India in 2008.
