Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) finally got an approval from the government to start long-distance services in India. SingTel has a 31% stake in Bharti Airtel. With the green signal from the government of India SingTel will carry STD and ISD traffic. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which is incharge of approval, took approx 15 months to give an assertive nod for the services.

SingTel has obtained the NLD/ILD license to focus on their international corporate clientele. The business would compete with Bharti Airtel. The Singapore-based company has got into a joint venture with Bharti and Leela Lace Software Solutions.

SingTel will hold 26% while Bharti gets 9.9% stake and Leela Lace Software Solutions has the rest.