Indian state-owned telecommunications operator BSNL has announced that it has placed a purchase order of mobile communication equipment of 20 million GSM lines for India's southern zone to the Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei and will not call for any new bids.
Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and general manager for BSNL, said that they have already given the order of 2G lines in the southern zone to Huawei. This order will involve 20 million GSM lines in total and the immediate order will be for eight million.
In addition, Goyal revealed that BSNL is negotiating with Ericsson about the bids for the northern zone and eastern zones of India, involving 25 million lines and 18 million lines, respectively. He did not provide the detailed value for the trade, but said the company hopes to close the negotiation as soon as possible.
For the company's bid for the western zone, Huawei reportedly provided the lowest price. However, due to national security considerations, BSNL did not give the contract to the Chinese provider.
