Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but BT said i2i has 200 employees in India, with assets of approximately $22.5m. Founded in 1992, i2i provides internet protocol telecoms services for local and multinational companies operating in India. It is also a distributor of BT Infonet’s managed network services and products, and is one of the few companies in India with licenses to provide international long-distance, national long-distance, nationwide ISP, and internet telephony services.
BT Telecom India has applied for licenses to provide national long-distance and international long distance services, but is still waiting after receiving a letter of intent from the Indian Department of Telecommunications, the first step prior to the award of licenses.
BT will become the biggest foreign global carrier operating in India today as the result of this deal, said Andy Green, CEO of BT Global Services. This [acquisition] will help BT build a broad-based platform for growth in India, and create a single BT-branded channel to the Indian market.
India is a core expansion market for BT, and the UK carrier already employs over 15,000 people in Asia Pacific, both direct and indirectly, the majority of whom are in India. Most are employed for BT’s services customer base, in helpdesk support, call center, and internal application development roles.
BT is looking to hire an additional 6,000 staff in India over the next couple of years, and expects to achieve Indian revenues of $250m by 2009. It also still has a stake in the Indian offshore services provider Tech Mahindra Ltd.
BT has recently been on something of an acquisition spree that began in February 2005 when it completed the $575m of network services provider Infonet Corp, and followed that up later in the year by taking control of Radianz, a services vendor to the financial services sector.
In April 2006 it acquired online UK retailer, Dabs.com, in order to boost its online sales and service credentials. Then in October BT Services paid an undisclosed sum to buy privately owned Counterpane Internet Security Inc in a move designed to extend its range of security products and services.
It followed this with the $126m purchase of internet service provider PlusNet Plc, a move that that had as much to do with increasing market share as about acquiring ownership of a well-regarded internet traffic management system. It furthered its strategy of building assets in developing countries with the purchase of the assets of Telexis Brasil, Fiat’s Brazilian telecommunications business, in November 2006.
And BT shows no sign of slowing down in 2007. Earlier this month its Global Services unit made its fourth major takeover in the US in the space of two years by swooping for International Network Services Inc for an undisclosed sum.
