Japan-based NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) will apply for a unified licence for offering national long-distance (NLD) services in India by end-2015. The licence will enable NTT Com to provide network services in the country. To this end, the company will establish a new group company called NTT Communications India Network Services Private Limited by May 2015.

With a unified licence, the company will be able to provide a range of network services including private network services, such as IP-VPN connecting data centres or the cloud to the domestic production bases of its customers.

Further, NTT Communications India Private Limited, NTT Com’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will set up a branch office in Gujarat to offer Information and communications technology (ICT) solutions in the country from June 2014. The centre at Ahmedabad will be the company’s sixth office following its offices in Delhi, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangaluru.

At present, NTT Com India provides system-integration services in India. Also, the company through Netmagic Solutions, in which NTT Com owns a 74 per cent stake, offers data centre and cloud services through its eight data centres in India.

The decision by NTT Com has come when its sister concern NTT DOCOMO is looking to exit its services from the country. Recently, NTT DOCOMO decided to sell its stake in Tata Teleservices Limited, its Indian joint venture.