Three companies in race for BSNL's WiMAX order

Huawei, Telsima and Alvarion in the final stages of bid. Winner to be announced next week, say sources

Three global telecom players have emerged as front-runners for state-owned telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s (BSNL) order for WiMax equipment.

Chinese vendor Huawei, US-based Telsima and Nasdaq-listed Alvarion are in the final lap of the project, with the companies quoting the lowest prices (L1). The winner will be announced next week, sources close to the development told Business Standard.

Companies like ZTE and Alactel-Lucent have also placed their bids, sources said.

BSNL was planning for a nation-wide rollout of WiMax services with a total investment of over $1 billion.

BSNL has already launched WiMax in Gujarat (using US-based Soma Networks solutions), while plans are afoot to roll out services across Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

The company is offering WiMax under the 2.5-GHz band, a superior frequency, compared with the private players who are currently offering under 3.3 GHz. WiMax will enable the companies to offer high-speed Internet access on laptops and mobile handsets.

BSNL and its sister-concern Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have received WiMax spectrum on a preferential basis, while the private companies will have to wait bid for spectrum.

Huwaei had earlier received bagged a BSNL contract to set up 1,000 common service centres (CSC) in rural areas, while the company is also believed to be bidding for the state-owned company’s 3G rollout. Alvarion had deployed over 3 million WiMax units in 150 countries, while Telsima is a five year-old India focused WiMax solutions firm.