After getting licences for national and international long-distance services, France Telecom(FT) has now applied to the Department of Telecommunications for an internet service licence.
Company sources said FT recently got FIPB approval for applying for a new ISP licence.
Equant Network Services, the joint venture between Emery Technologies, promoted by Moser Baer MD Deepak Puri, and FT has applied for it.
Equant is a 74:26 per cent JV between FT and Emery.
FT also plans to consolidate its Indian businesses through Equant. Earlier, FT was operating through Global One, its 100 per cent arm.
In fact, FT had an ISP licence applied through GlobalOne, which now the company plans to surrender, the sources said.
Currently, five international communication majors — US-based AT&T and Verizon, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless and France Telecom — hold licences and offer NLD and ILD services in India.
Equant offers a variety of connectivity and network related services in India, including Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IPVPN), Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), network-related managed services and adaptive network solutions, for enterprises.
Last year, France Telecom had acquired the enterprise and managed services division of Mumbai-based GTL for around Rs 250 crore.
