Bharti, VSNL to share broadband services

Monday, 26 April 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Bharti Infotel Limited (BIL) Sunday signed a Rs five billion agreement with Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) to share its national long distance (NLD) backbone. The capacity agreement will enable VSNL to primarily use Bharti NLD's 100,000 km of dark fibre network. "This agreement with VSNL means optimal use of Bharti's existing network capacity and higher revenues, cutting operating and finance costs, and improvement in cash flows without impacting the availability of capacities with us in any way," BIL president Badri Agarwal said in a statement here. The agreement would also ensure end-to-end connectivity for VSNL's enterprise and broadband subscribers. VSNL's wholesale business segment, primarily catering to voice solutions, will also benefit from the augmented NLD backbone. The 100,000 fibre km NLD backbone will cover over 200 Long Distance Calling Areas (LDCAs) and keep VSNL much ahead of its NLD rollout obligations.
Source: IANS