The FINANCIAL — Social networking site Facebook on March 15 announced that it would set up its new office in Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Facebook, headquartered in Palo Alto, made the announcement early Monday in India, where it has more than 8 million members, Don Faul, Director of Global Online Operations for Facebook, wrote in the company's blog.
Facebook's office in Hyderabad will support users, advertisers and developers in India and around the world, the company said in a statement, according to Reuters. Hyderabad also houses other foreign firms, including Internet powerhouse Google and software giant Microsoft, whose Indian employees work on everything from writing software codes to providing customer services at cheaper salaries than in developed nations such as the United States.
Facebook on Friday made official plans to open an office in Austin, Texas, and plan to hire employees to fill online sales and operations posts for both offices, San Francisco Chronicle reports. "Both of these offices will allow us to better serve the more than 400 million of you now using Facebook worldwide, as well as our growing number of advertisers and developers," wrote Paul, a director of global online operations.
Tech Shout reports that speaking in Hyderabad, Faul shared, “People in India and around the world are using Facebook to do everything from voicing their opinions on national issues, to connecting with fellow cricket and hockey fans, to sharing photos with their friends and family. We expect our new office in Hyderabad to tap into the region’s strong pool of talented people who understand operations and technology, and help us more effectively serve the needs of our users, advertisers, and developers around the world.”
Facebook, which lets users connect and share information with friends online, has emerged as one of the Internet's most popular destinations, challenging established players like Yahoo Inc and Google, according to Reuters. Facebook counts around 400 million users and has had large investments from Microsoft and from Russian investment company Digital Sky Technologies.
Facebook's office in Hyderabad will supplement operations supported out of Palo Alto, California, Dublin, Ireland and a recently announced location in Austin, Texas, according to the same source. "By having multiple support centers in a variety of time zones, we can provide better round-the-clock, multi-lingual support," Faul said.
The new office is part of Facebook's strategy of having support centres around the world in different time zones providing round-the-clock support in multiple languages, Dawn com reports. “Seventy percent of the people using Facebook are outside the US and are accessing the service from more than 70 languages,” added Faul.
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