Verizon Business India, a joint venture between Verizon Business and Mumbai-based Videocon Group, has received licenses for international and national long-distance services. The licenses were issued by India's Department of Telecommunications.

Verizon Business India will offer a full range of services, including international private-leased circuits with multi protocol label switching (MPLS) and Internet protocol (IP) services.

The joint venture plans to deploy new nodes in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi to support Verizon Business' MPLS, Global Data Link and Ethernet Virtual Private Line
solutions.

Blair Crump, group president international & premier accounts, Verizon Business, commented, "India is a key investment location for many of our multinational customers, and these licenses enable us to further enhance our local capabilities to support their strategic business needs. Verizon Business is focused on providing the highest levels of services and capabilities to our customers around the world. We look forward to bringing our expertise to bear in India as we expand our existing presence to provide direct, high-quality, advanced communications services and support to our locally based customer operations."

Verizon Business also announced the appointment of John Samuel as president of Verizon Business India.