New Delhi: AT&T Corp., a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. has announced that it has restructured its Asia Pacific operations to better address the needs of multinational customers in the region, and fully capitalise on the burgeoning demand for telecom services in India.

According to a release by the company, effective 1 Nov 2007, India will be a separate region reporting directly to John Finnegan, senior vice president of Global Sales.

V S Gopi Gopinath, currently vice president of AT&T Asia Pacific, will relocate to Bangalore after a transitional period to lead AT&T''s global services business in India.

The restructuring is designed to reflect the growing importance of the market in India, which is now the fastest-growing market for AT&T in Asia Pacific.

AT&T was the first foreign operator to receive national long distance (NLD) and international long distance (ILD) licenses under India''s liberalised telecom regulations and, in April, became the first company to begin commercial operations.

Ronald Spears, group president, AT&T Global Business Services is on a visit to India, and said the restructuring and senior executive appointment will help drive investment and resources to ensure the sustained growth of the company''s business in India. He said, "These developments will further strengthen AT&T''s commitment to the rapidly expanding telecommunications sector in India and highlight our strong expectations for this market. Gopi brings a wealth of international experience and extensive knowledge of the telecommunications sector to this important new role."

Recent visits by senior AT&T senior management to the country incuded a recent visit in July by Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer; t was his first international trip since assuming the chairman''s office in June. In October 2006, AT&T became the first global telecom operator in India to secure NLD and ILD licenses in India through the AT&T India joint venture. AT&T India began offering commercial services in early 2007 with the capability of providing AT&T''s global customers who are operating in India, with the same standard of communications services that they enjoy from AT&T elsewhere in the world.