Queries delay BSNL GSM tender

Indian operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has delayed the opening of bids for its GSM tender until August, following receipt of 21,000 queries from vendors.

BSNL officials had placed a draft tender on the company website, with an estimated contract value of US$6.5 billion, but said the unprecedented number of queries had pushed the opening of bids back.

BSNL plans to add 100 million GSM subscribers by 2010.

“We need time to address the issues raised. Therefore, the 93-million line tender, which was supposed to be opened on July 16, will now open on August 30,” an official said.

The highest number of lines that a single company may be awarded is 50 million, with global equipment providers Nokia Siemens, Ericsson, Motorola, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and ZTE expected to submit bids.

Indian government tender terms stipulate that only vendors with a turnover of US$2 billion or above for the last two years, and a successful track record of rolling out over 20 million GSM lines, will be permitted to tender bids.

This is not the first time that BSNL has delayed, amended or negotiated its GSM network tenders.

It has been reported that the operator plans to add at least 100 million GSM subscribers by 2010. According to figures from the Mobile World database, the operator ended the first half of this year with 37.36 million GSM subscribers along with around 176,000 CDMA users.