BT and AT&T poised for Indian market battle

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 03 January 2007 05:34

IT Industry - Strategy

The issue of long distance and international telecoms licences to BT's Indian joint venture will put it on an equal footing with arch rival AT&T in the booming Indian telecoms market.

BT has announced today, 02 January, that it has received letters of intent from the Government of India, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), for the award of licences for national long distance and international long distance services to its 74 percent owned joint venture company, BT Telecom India Pvt Ltd, to provide services directly to multisite corporate customers in the Indian market.

Once the licences are fully operational, BT will be able to offer both domestic and international managed services to corporate customers who have sites in India. BT will also be able to provide these companies with virtual private network-based (VPN) services using technologies such as ATM and internet protocol-based multi-protocol label switching (MPLS). Currently, BT provides managed services through its licensed partner in India.

AT&T has a short lead on BT. Its joint venture was granted its licences in November. AT&T Global Network Services India is a JV with Mahindra Telecommunications Investment.

Their strategies have been welcomed by large corporates in India. AT&T quotes Virgil Palmer, chairman of the AT&T Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Council and head of Global IT Sourcing Management Office for international industrial gas giant Air Products and Chemicals, saying: "We are extremely pleased that we can now work directly with AT&T. We are confident that it will lead to significant improvements in quality and reliability, as well as simplifying key areas such as negotiating, contracting and billing arrangements. India is a high-priority market for just about every global MNC. And I believe that this will be a major factor in helping to attract further foreign investment and expansion into India."