Alcatel in network tool talks with Reliance, BSNL

French telecom major Alcatel is in negotiations with Indian telecom operators including Reliance and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to offer network equipment on a revenue sharing basis.

The Alcatel strategy, to gain a foothold in a market dominated by players such as Ericsson and Motorola, envisages huge investments in terms of offering network equipment at zero upfront costs to the operator.

"The Indian telecom sector is one of the fastest growing in the world and we are prepared to invest huge sums of money in offering equipment for global system for mobile phone and broadband service providers," said Olivier Picard, president, Alcatel (Indian subcontinent). Having lost out in the wireless market, Alcatel is now betting on the broadband segment.

"Broadband is likely to emerge as the next revolution in Indian telecom. In these two segments, we are looking at grabbing a 25 per cent market share in the next three years and we feel that our investments would give us good returns," said Picard.

Alcatel is also planning to increase the number of engineers in its software centres in India from 600 to 1,000.

The 12.5 billion euro company is also in talks with Reliance Infocomm for outsourcing network management.

"What you can do in Europe in 10 years, Reliance has done in just two years. The network built by Reliance is most impressive. We have made an offer to Reliance for network management. This will translate into substantial savings. But no decision has yet been taken in this regard," said Etienne Fouques, executive vice-president and member of Alcatel's executive committee.

Alcatel is also looking at offering code division multiple access (CDMA)-based solutions as part of its portfolio. The company is among the few manufacturers which has kept away from offering a complete CDMA solution so far.

(The correspondent's trip to Paris was sponsored by Alcatel)