(21 February 2007 7:10 pm)

MUMBAI: BT announced that it has been granted international long distance (ILD) and national long distance licenses (NLD) by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. These licenses enable BT's newly-formed joint venture company, BT Telecom India Pvt Ltd, to offer services for the first time directly to multi-site corporate customers in the Indian market.

BT plans to provide corporate customers who have sites in India with virtual private network-based (VPN) services using technologies such as internet protocol-based multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) and ATM.

BT Global Services CEO Andy Green said, "This is fantastic news, allowing BT to establish and manage our own operations in India. It's also great news for our multinational customers doing business in India and our Indian customers wanting to access a BT-managed network which is connected to BT's comprehensive global network across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America."

Minister of Communication and IT M Maran said, "To further promote investment into India and enhance business opportunities for Indian companies operating overseas, India must have the best and latest infrastructure. These licenses will allow BT to bring its 21 CN services to India's IT and ITES sector and increasing their competitiveness through connectivity, availability, quality and responsiveness on a global scale."

The company also predicted in 2006 that its revenues from India will be US$250 million by 2009 and that it is looking to increase its Indian employee strength by hiring an additional 6,000 people within the next two years. In February 2007, BT signed an agreement for the acquisition of i2i Enterprise Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based enterprise services company specialising in internet protocol (IP) communications services for major Indian and global multinational companies.BT also plans to add additional resources to support its already substantial capabilities in outsourcing and systems integration services.