BSNL line tender sees interest from Alcatel, ZTE, Huawei

Two leading Chinese telecom equipment-makers Huawei and ZTE are among several companies that have submitted bids against the 14.37 million GSM line tender floated by state-run BSNL for expansion of mobile services.

"The tender for procurement of 14.37 million Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) lines for expansion of 2G and 3G services has been floated by BSNL for requirement of all its telecom circles, except Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh," Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora informed the Lok Sabha today.

Other leading telecom equipment-makers participating in the tender include Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson India and Nokia Siemens Network, he said.

The tender floated by BSNL involves planning, financing, engineering, supply, installation, testing, commissioning and annual maintenance of the GSM lines.

Only bidders with a minimum turnover of Rs 8,000 crore in both of the last two years can participate in the tender, the company had said.

Deora also provided details of the line tenders scrapped or cancelled by BSNL, which include a 93 million GSM lines tender floated in year 2008 for all telecom circles and a 5.5 million GSM line tender floated in the year 2010 for telecom circles in the North and East Zone.

"Fresh tender has been floated based on revised requirements," Deora said.

BSNL offers telecom services in all areas of the country, barring Delhi and Mumbai.