Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Bharti signs interconnect pact with BSNL

Indian telecoms firm Bharti Telesonic said on Wednesday it had sealed a deal with state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which enabled Bharti to offer its national long distance services to BSNL's customers.

New Delhi-based Bharti Telesonic's nationwide domestic long distance infrastructure is used by a dozen cellular operators who allow long distance calls between their networks.

"This inter-connect agreement will allow us to offer our services to BSNL's 36 million customers," N Arjun, chief executive officer at Bharti Telesonic, told Reuters.

Telecoms giant BSNL provides fixed-line services in all parts of India except New Delhi, and financial hub Mumbai where another state-run company, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, is the market leader.

Arjun said Bharti was also hoping to sign a similar agreement with MTNL within a week which would allow it to offer its services to MTNL's four million customers.

Bharti Telesonic, a fully-owned unit of integrated telecoms firm Bharti Tele-Ventures, also offers international calls in the domestic telecoms sector which is billed as one of the fastest growing markets globally in this decade.

Earlier this year Bharti's entry into the domestic long-distance calls market led to a 62.5 per cent drop in call charges.

ALSO READ:
More Money Headlines