BSNL-MTNL 4G Mobile Tender

No sooner had BSNL floated a tender for the procurement of mobile network equipment, a complaint was filed by a Delhi based lobby group representing indigenous manufacturers, and the process was stopped on the direction of commerce ministry. Now, a committee of secretaries will decide if BSNL must wait till indigenous products are developed or they can proceed with the tender after some changes in its eligibility criteria.

The requirement is in terms of number of towers – 50,000 4G e-NodeB, 7,000 4G e-NodeB for MTNL, and 12,500 2G+4G BTS. For 2G+4G sites, it is absolutely important that DoT liberalizes the 2G spectrum so that it can be used with 4G spectrum in sharing mode. In addition, it requires 3 or 4 packet switches of 100G capacities each. The project is estimated to be to the tune of Rs 5,300 crore. BSNL is procuring on behalf of MTNL also.