Leading telecom equipment vendors are in the fray for bagging 2G and 3G telecom equipment deal from Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). The operator has opened bids for awarding a contract worth Rs 6 billion for procuring 2G and 3G telecom gear for expanding its GSM network.
MTNL plans to upgrade its core telecom network in the Delhi and Mumbai circles to support higher data speeds and other valued added services. As per the news reports, Nokia Solutions Networks (NSN) has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) in the Delhi and Mumbai circles. Huawei is the second-lowest (L2) bidder in both the circles while ZTE had emerged as the third lowest (L3) bidder in the Delhi circle and the fourth-lowest (L4) bidder in the Mumbai circle. Alcatel Lucent has emerged as the L3 bidder in the Mumbai circle.
Under the terms of the GSM tender, MTNL will buy 2G and 3G telecom gear from the lowest bidder for the planned 1.6 million-line network expansion. However, in case the lowest bidder fails to deliver the required telecom equipment, MTNL will ask L2 bidder to match the bid price quoted by the lowest bidder. The vendor bagging the contract will also be responsible for supplying radio access network (RAN) and intelligent network to the operator.
