$9 billion, 93 million GSM lines Order

$9 billion, 93 million GSM lines Order

By Nitin Luthra and Romit Guha

Indian state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. has received technical and financial bids from six global telecom equipment suppliers for its contract to supply 93 million global system for mobile, or GSM, communication lines, the company's chairman said Wednesday.

"Six major vendors have participated. Only Motorola is not there," Kuldeep Goyal told reporters.

The six vendors include LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC), Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel Networks Corp. (NT), Alcatel-Lucent (ALU.FR), Huawei Technology Co. and ZTE Corp. (000063.SZ), he said.

While Goyal didn't specify the total value of the contract, he said: "Less than $100 (per GSM line)" is what the company expects to spend on its network expansion, which will be spread over three-to-four years.

The company had said in July it expects to spend around $9 billion on its network expansion plans.

Unlisted BSNL is trying to expand its network to compete with rivals including Bharti Airtel Ltd. (532454.BY) and privately held Vodafone Essar Ltd.

It is facing a scarcity of GSM lines in its bid to match the subscriber addition pace of its rivals.

India, which is the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world, is divided into 22 telecommunication service areas. The country is adding over eight million new users every month.

"We will try to end the (evaluation) process and place the first order by the end of the year or early next year," he added. "It's a very complex process."

The first order will be for about 33 million lines, he added.

Goyal said "one to two" companies had bid to deploy the equipment across the country, while some had bid for specific regions. He didn't elaborate.