BSNL recently awarded a contract to the public sector equipment vendor, ITI Limited, to upgrade 18 billion GSM lines in the country. For this, ITI will enlist the help of French telecom major Alcatel. The PSU had reserved 30 per cent of its 60 million GSM lines upgradation contract, worth $4.5 billion, for ITI. For the remaining 70 per cent, telecom equipment majors such as Ericsson AB, Nokia, Motorola, Nortel, Huawei and ZTE are believed to have submitted bids. The delayed tender is expected to be opened by the end of February 2006.
