Thomson Asia Ltd, a subsidiary of France-based Thomson Group, a technology provider to the media, communications and entertainment industries, will set up a research and development centre in Bangalore,

The new centre will start off operations with 150 engineers on its rolls, with plans to ramp up employee strength to 600 engineers by 2010. The centre will be operational by the end of July this year.

The Bangalore centre will be Thomson's eighth worldwide centre, and will carry out advanced software development for the company's video-centric solutions.

Thomson currently sells basic telephony products under the GE brand through a tie-up with Bhart Teletech Ltd in India. A major share of its basic telephony business comes from basic telephone service providers and the corporate segment.

Yesterday, the company has launched the Alcatel brand of corded and cordless basic telephone instruments in Indian market.