Bharti Airtel to use Singtel expertise for 3G services rollout in Sri Lanka

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - India's Bharti Airtel Ltd said it will leverage the expertise of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) to roll out third generation services in Sri Lanka, The Economic Times reported quoting the telecom major's president of mobile services, Sanjay Kapoor.

Bharti plans to launch second and third generation mobile services in the island nation by September.

Singtel is a major player in the 3G space and already has third generation networks in several markets across Asia, he said.

Singtel owns a little over 30 pct in Bharti Airtel.

Kapoor said another option open to Bharti is to use the expertise of members of Bridge Alliance for its 3G services in Sri Lanka.

The Bridge Alliance, of which both Bharti and Singtel are members, is a business alliance of 11 major mobile telecommunications companies in Asia and Australia. The alliance is built on a seamless service connectivity and a suite of integrated value-added services for all alliance members' subscribers while roaming on each other's networks.

Last year, Bharti Airtel had bagged the licence to become Sri Lanka's fifth GSM-based service provider.