Bharti partners Cisco for network services

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top mobile operator, Bharti Airtel Ltd, said on Wednesday it would partner Cisco Systems to provide managed network services that include handling communication networks for other companies.

David Nishball, president for enterprise services at Bharti Airtel, said in a statement the venture would start with multi-protocol label switching services, which is used to speed up the flow of traffic on a network.

Earlier this week, Bharti's smaller rival Reliance Communications announced a joint venture with French American firm Alcatel-Lucent for network management services and expected the joint venture's revenue to touch $500 million in five to seven years.