Airtel gets licence for global carrier services

Bharti Airtel on Monday received a big boost for its global voice and data connectivity business, with the company getting the licence to operate global carrier business in Singapore.

Bharti Airtel (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, said on Monday it has been awarded the facility-based operator licence in Singapore, which will enable it to operate international carrier facilities from there.

Multiple cable systems such as Network i2i, SeMeWe4, Asia America Gateway, APCN2, EAC and C2C will aggregate at Singapore, making the island nation the interconnection hub for Airtel traffic between India and over 90 countries around the world.

This licence will support Airtel's robust portfolio of international voice and data services, including private lines, Internet, MPLS, long sistance, toll-free services, and mobile roaming, it said in a statement.

With the facility-based

operator licence in Singapore, the company will be able to provide highly reliable services to its customers on its own infrastructure.

Bharti Airtel will be set up a point of presence in Singapore for cable interconnection at the landing station and another PoP for connectivity to telcos and local carriers.

Then, the company will be able to interconnect its cables with other service providers in Singapore to offer connectivity.

Bharti Airtel President, Enterprise Services, David Nishball said, "The FBO licence is an important step in meeting customers' complete global communication needs."

SingTel has a preferred partnership term with Airtel. Singapore Telecom holds 31 per cent stake in Airtel.

The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems -- i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe.