BT and BSNL have teamed up to provide a number of managed telecom services throughout India.

According to the Economic Times, the companies will provide a range of services, including internet, mobile and Virtual Private Network [VPN] offerings.

As part of the agreement, BT will be granted access to BSNL's India-wide broadband network, and in return BSNL may use BT's MPLS network.

BSNL has also been in talks with both Apple and Research In Motion [RIM] this week over the possibility of launching 3G iPhones and BlackBerries on the BSNL network.

The RIM negotiations have reached an advanced stage, and the handsets should be available to BSNL customers by the end of the year. But discussions with Apple are still in the preliminary stage.

Lastly, the BSNL Employees' Union is opposing the proposal it should merge with loss making Indian Telephone Industries, stating that to do so would severely damage the company's financial position.

The merger proposal was suggested by Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself, and is likely to go ahead despite these objections.

Source:telecomasia.net