BSNL, Sri Lanka Tele in pact

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has signed three agreements with Sri Lanka Telecom, including one for direct connectivity in international voice traffic, which would enable the Indian company to offer "attractive tariffs" to customers, and another for cellular roaming.

The subscribers of CellOne, BSNL's mobile services, would be able to roam in Mobitel Network of Sri Lanka Telecom through the bilateral roaming agreement between the two companies, a BSNL press release said on Friday.

The three agreements -- IDD Service between BSNL and SLT, MoU for IP-Oriented Services, and Cellular Roaming between Indian and Sri Lanka were signed on June 2, it said.

The two companies would also be able to provide IP-based Data Services like VPN, Webphone and IDC to corporate customers, the release added.

"BSNL and SLT have come a long way after signing the first agreement in July 2003. With the signing of new agreements in three areas, the cooperation will increase and it is expected that both companies as well as people of India and Sri Lanka will get benefited," BSNL CMD, V P Sinha, was quoted as saying.

The agreement would have a long lasting effect on the relationship between India and Sri Lanka, SLT CEO Shuhel Anan said, adding there were many other areas, which could be explored between the two organisations.

Anan also expressed his desire to have a submarine cable between Sri Lanka and India as a joint effort between the two countries.