Alcatel-Lucent and ZTE have emerged as the lowest bidders for supplying 5.5 million GSM lines to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). While Alcatel-Lucent quoted $53 a line for supplying the access radio equipment, ZTE has quoted $8 a line for core network gear. The deal, once finalised, will fetch Rs 13.12 billion for Alcatel-Lucent and Rs 2.02 billion for ZTE. Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks were the other bidders who participated while Ericsson had decided not to participate due to the stringent security requirements sought by BSNL.
