India-based telecom operator Reliance and French-American telecom equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent have decided to form a joint venture for managed network services, covering both CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks, Nikkei Economics Asia reported on May 13.

The venture, with Alcatel-Lucent holding two thirds of the shares and Reliance the remaining stake, will deliver said services to telecom operators located both in India and worldwide. The venture's first task will be to manage Reliance's nationwide CDMA and GSM networks in India. Spanning a period of seven years, this project is valued at roughly US$500 million, Economic Times of India reported.