Tulip IT Services has been awarded the international long distance (ILD) licence by the government's department of telecom (DoT).According to an official release issued by the company to the BSE today, this license will allow it to address the needs of its customers for international voice, video and data connectivity. The company foresees the ILD licence as a large business opportunity that will enable it to provide high-end services in the burgeoning virtual private network (VPN) bandwidth market. As per industry estimates, the international connectivity market is expected to double from over Rs 1800 crore in 2006 to over Rs 3600 crore in 2012.Speaking on this occasion, Lt Col H S Bedi, MD, Tulip IT Services said: "It is a momentous occasion for Tulip and the company has come a long way since its inception. This licence opens a host of business opportunities for it and Tulip is appropriately positioned to leverage these opportunities. We have a strong footprint in the domestic market with our reach in over 800 cities. The award of this license will further enforce our commitment to being an end-to-end connectivity solutions provider that provides customers with a single point of contact for all connectivity and integration requirements."