Ericsson accepts BSNL order

New Delhi, Aug 2 (UNI) Sweden-based telecom major Ericsson today accepted Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's (BSNL) Rs 5,150 crore purchase order for supplying equipment and establishing 13.2 million GSM lines to the state-owned company.

The company paid the bank guarantee to BSNL and accepted the order, company sources said here.

BSNL will now offer an advance purchase order (APO) to Nokia-Siemens, the second lowest bidder for the remaining 40 per cent quantity.

BSNL had managed to bring down the price by 12 dollars per line. Earlier, Ericsson had quoted a price of 107 dollars per line. However, Communication and IT Minister A Raja asked BSNL officials to bring down the prices.

After plenty of exercises, BSNL was able to bring down the price to 95 dollars per line. This, however, took about three months, while the whole tendering process took about one and a half years.

Under the advance purchase order, the company will now supply 9.7 million 2G lines and another 3.5 million 3G lines, but only after the government finalises the policy on the new service.

UNI