New Delhi: Telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Pacnet to interconnect networks of both the companies, with a view to expanding connections to and from India.

Pacnet is an independent telecommunications company that was formed from the operational merger of Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet.

In a joint statement, Bharti Airtel and Pacnet said that under the NNI (network-to-network interface) agreement the two would directly hook up their network infrastructure to expand their Internet Protocol virtual private network (IP-VPN) capabilities.

This agreement would allow both companies to deliver greater coverage, a seamless user experience, and more reliable technology to customers.

David Nishball, president, enterprise services, Bharti Airtel, said that the agreement is part of the company's strategy to extend the global reach for its customers, while providing them a secure, consistent and robust network from their doorstep to the most populous markets across Asia Pacific and beyond.

Bill Barney, chief executive officer, Pacnet said that as his company witnesses increasing growth in enterprise communication requirements to and from India, this arrangement with Bharti Airtel would help in delivering seamless connectivity to his customers.

After signing the NNI, Airtel and Pacnet announced a special "Gateway to India" offering for high capacity international private line circuits between the United States and India, which would leverage each company's strengths in their sub-sea assets to provide a fast, resilient end-to-end connection for enterprise customers.

The connections would utilise Airtel's i2i/SeMeWe 4 System, and Pacnet's EAC-C2C network and Pacific Crossing's PC-1 cable system.

Bharti Airtel' statement also said that connecting its network infrastructure will expand its multi-protocol label switching-based (MPLS) internet protocol, virtual private network (VPN), which will provide advanced IP solutions to key business customers in the region.