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    Fresh BSNL 4G tender to keep Huawei, ZTE out with no-neighbour policy

    Synopsis

    The new tender will include a clause that companies from countries having borders with India won’t be allowed to participate, thus excluding Huawei and ZTE, in line with the Centre’s policy initiative taken in the wake of India-China border standoff.

    Untitled-12
    In the upcoming tender being readied, BSNL may also allow any Indian company to participate if it successfully demonstrates proof-of-concept (PoC) as mandated, the official said.
    India may take its first official step to bar Chinese gear makers Huawei and ZTE from the country’s telecom networks by including a clause toward this end in an upcoming Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) equipment tender.

    The Centre’s Empowered Technology Group (ETG) has approved state-run BSNL’s proposal to issue a fresh tender for 57,000 4G sites. It would allow multinational vendors such as Finland’s Nokia, Sweden’s Ericsson and South Korea’s Samsung but not Huawei and ZTE, a top government official told ET.

    The new tender will include a clause that companies from countries having borders with India won’t be allowed to participate, thus excluding Huawei and ZTE, in line with the Centre’s policy initiative taken in the wake of India-China border standoff.

    “BSNL’s view was that it wants to have two tenders so that the rollout of the next generation of services can be accelerated,” said a member of the group led by principal scientific advisor K VijayRaghavan. The person didn’t want to be named. The previous phase of the tender issued in January this year involved Indian gear vendors. The telco’s existing 2G and 3G networks use equipment from ZTE and Finland’s Nokia.

    Untitled-11Agencies

    The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated even private telcos to use network gear only from “trusted sources” starting June 15.

    5G Compatibility a Key Condition
    The directive is widely believed to be aimed at keeping Huawei and ZTE out due to national security reasons.

    In the upcoming tender being readied, BSNL may also allow any Indian company to participate if it successfully demonstrates proof-of-concept (PoC) as mandated, the official said.

    The greenfield 4G tender in the works may also include 5G compatibility as a key condition, according to another official. The latest tender comes amid a tussle between BSNL and the DoT on the issue of whether to allow only Indian gear vendors to supply network equipment for the telco’s 4G expansion. BSNL wants foreign vendors allowed but the authorities, following a technical panel’s views, have pushed for using only local ones.

    The state-owned telco, citing reliability concerns with local telecom equipment vendors, wanted to deploy a proven or tested 4G core technology offered by multinationals such as Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung. BSNL, which offers services in 20 of the country’s 22 circles, also operates the Delhi and Mumbai networks of state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). The state-run telcos have about 10% revenue market share. The remaining 90% is with private operators Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.



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