By joining forces, the companies believe they can develop integrated products for telecoms operators vying to sell a "quadruple play" of fixed-line, broadband Internet, wireless and television.
The old fixed-line network is being torn up and replaced with a system using only internet-protocol (IP) technology, which is cheaper and better at handling voice, data and images.
The ITU's ICT price basket combines the average cost of fixed-line telephones, mobile phones and fixed-line broadband Internet services, calculated as a proportion of gross national income per person.