(24 March 2009 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Pacnet, a telecommunications service provider, has increased its stake in its India joint venture and will shortly file applications for International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) licenses.

"As part of our strategy to aggressively grow our operations in India, we have raised our stake in our India joint venture Pacific Internet India from 55 per cent to 74 per cent," said Pacnet CEO Bill Barney. "Together with our joint venture partner FutureWorld India., we have further capitalized Pacific Internet India to support our network roll out in India post receipt of ILD and NLD licenses."

"Pacnet recently received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India to increase its shareholding in the joint venture and to apply for ILD and NLD licenses. We look forward to obtaining the Letter of Intent from the Department of Telecom of India in the near future," added Barney.

Upon approval of the necessary licenses, Pacnet will offer its full suite of network services including International Private Line (IPL), IP VPN, Ethernet IPL, IP Transit, Direct Internet Access, as well as managed services.

Pacnet currently offers Internet services in six Indian cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon and Hyderabad. "We will be enhancing the capability of our existing facilities significantly to support multiple IP services, as well as work with our partners in India to ensure pan-India coverage," said Barney.

According to Barney, "India will remain one of the world's fastest growing markets and the country will continue to be resilient despite the current global economic slowdown. Therefore, Pacnet remains committed to grow our operations here."