Alcatel-Lucent has announced a global joint venture with India’s largest integrated telecommunications service provider, Reliance Communications. In a statement, the two said the joint venture will combine both companies’ unique strengths to “foray” in the fast-growing managed network services industry and “will cater to telecom operators, both CDMA and GSM, across the globe.”

The joint venture’s first project will be to provide managed services for Reliance Communications nationwide CDMA and GSM networks in India.

“World over, the biggest challenge telecom operators are facing is to continuously improve competitiveness…The combined expertise and experience of Reliance and Alcatel-Lucent would create an unmatched blend of leadership in technology, innovation, scale of operations and customer service to become the world’s leading Managed Network Services Provider,” Sandip Biswas, head of Reliance Communication’s Managed Network division, said in a statement.

As part of the joint venture, a new legal entity will be formed; Alcatel-Lucent will have operational control of the new entity, while Reliance Communications will control 33%.

Alcatel-Lucent, at a press conference in Mumbai, reportedly said that it expects the joint venture to earn revenues of $500 million within five to six years.