Bharat Sanchar Nigam has awarded a $500 million
contract to Nortel for setting up seven million cellular mobile lines in India's
south and east zones. The contract, which is part of BSNL's nationwide project,
is expected to be completed by mid-2005.
Under the contract, which is reportedly the
world's largest tender in the cellular service industry, Nortel will deploy an
end-to-end GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) and GPRS (General Packet
Radio Service) solution, including radio base stations, mobile switching centres
and other equipment, to provide wireless voice and data services.