Telecom operators Singtel and Bharti Airtel have decided to combine their networks to provide data connectivity to enterprises in 325 cities through 370 Points of Presence (PoP).

This will form one of the largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Networks (IP VPN) offering data network coverage in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the U.S. This will benefit decision makers including CIOs at companies in the pharmaceutical, IT and IT-enabled services as well as financial services segments.

Singtel has 200 PoPs in 160 cities around the world. Bharti Airtel has 170 plus PoPs in 165 cities across India, Africa and the Middle East.

Singtel is a major shareholder in Bharti Airtel.

Bharti Airtel competes with Tata Communications, Orange Business Services, BT, Verizon Communications, AT&T and others in the high-speed data connectivity services for large enterprises.

This network partnership paves the way for SingTel’s international customers to tap Indian market and Indian companies to expand abroad, supported by Singtel’s IP VPN network in major business cities in Asia, Europe and the US.

“By combining the two networks, we provide fully-managed and secured networking service to help multinational corporations simplify their communications needs. Businesses only need to deal with a single contract and customer helpdesk on the back of one network to manage their communications across multiple countries,” said Lim Seng Kong, managing director of Global Enterprise Business at Singtel Group Enterprise.

Under this global network, CIOs can ensure a consistent one-stop customer experience through a single helpdesk and an integrated Operations and Maintenance system jointly developed by the partners.

Airtel said these systems are designed to boost troubleshooting capabilities across the networks and standardise service quality across many regions.  Combining this unified customer service together with a very high network availability and reliability, customers can have the assurance of operating over a stable network.

Manish Prakash, director for Strategic Ventures at Bharti Airtel, said: “This association will enhance our value proposition for enterprise customers by offering them a wider global reach and the largest reach within India under a single platform.”