BSNL’s move to reserve part of its cellular line order for Indian Telephone Industries has been questioned by the US.

BSNL’s move to reserve a quarter of its 60 million cellular line order for Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) has been questioned by the US. ITI has tied up with French vendor Alcatel to manufacture cellular equipment in Rae Bareli. It is expected to win an order for 15 million lines, while other companies will have to bid for the remaining 45.5 million lines. This means that American vendors like Motorola will lose potential business worth $1.5 billion, without participating. The issue will be discussed during the Indo-US Trade Policy Review meeting. Consequently, BSNL is delaying opening bids for its 45.5 million line GSM tender till mid-July. Equipment vendors also need more time to submit their bids. This is the second time that the telecom major has postponed the deadline, following a postponement last month from May 10 to May 31.