BSNL To Add 60 Million GSM Lines; $5 Billion Mobile Expansion World’s Largest Ever

Business Standard: It shows India’s market potential for mobile services.
The state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has decided to issue a single tender for installing an additional 60 million GSM lines. This will possibly be the largest-ever telecom expansion deal in the world and estimated to be worth over $5 billion, Business Standard reports.
The company had earlier planned to issue two separate tenders, first for 40 million lines in October 2005, and the second one for an additional 20 million lines in mid-2007. On approval from the department of telecommunications (DoT), BSNL decided to go for a single tender because “volumes will help it negotiate lowest possible equipment and installation prices,” executives said. The PSU board has also decided to make it mandatory for the vendors bidding for the tender to manufacture equipment directly or through contract manufacturers in India. “This clause has been added to ensure quality, timeliness of delivery and after-sales service. We are also envisaging 30 per cent value-addition from second year onwards,” said a senior BSNL executive.

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