France Telecom arm gets NLD nod

NEW DELHI: Orange Business Services, the mobile arm of communications major France Telecom, on Wednesday said that it had received the licence to provide long-distance telecommunications services in India as a national and international long-distance (NLD-ILD) operator.

In April 2008, the DoT had cleared Orange���s applications for NLD and ILD licences. The company becomes the fifth international communications major to receive permission���other four being US-based AT&T and Verizon, British Telecom (BT) and Cable & Wireless.

Of these players, AT&T and British Telecom have already launched both NLD and ILD services in the country while Cable & Wireless is in the process of launching services here.

At present, the business generated by the long-distance segment in India is estimated to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore annually. France Telecom has formed a JV partnership with Emery Technologies, a company owned by Moser Baer���s MD, Mr Deepak Puri, for its India operations.

This is because, as per Indian regulations, the foreign direct holdings in telecom is capped at 74%. ���The company (Orange) will be immediately rolling out services through its joint venture company ���Equant Network Services India Private Limited���. This will enable the company to offer services directly to multi-site corporate customers in the Indian as well as the international market. Orange Business Services will plans to offer a variety of connectivity and network related services in India including Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN), Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), network- related managed services and adaptive network solutions for enterprises,��� the company said in a statement.

Last year, France Telecom (through Orange) had acquired the enterprise and managed services division of GTL for around Rs 250 crore.