State-owned BSNL on Friday invited bids for acquiring 5.5 million lines to expand GSM operations from three foreign vendors, barring Chinese, who had participated in the earlier 93 million line tender which was cancelled.
The decision to this effect was taken at a special board meeting of the PSU on Friday, senior officials said.
The three vendors are Ericsson, Nokia-Siemens Network and Alcatel-Lucent, they added.
The PSU has, however, not included Chinese equipment players like Huawei and ZTE. Huawei the winner in one of the regions in earlier 93 million line tender. Although BSNL is mum on its decision to exclude Chinese firms, sources said getting security clearances was the main reason for this.
Asked why the tender has been reduced to a small quantity, they said it was for immediate requirement.
BSNL had earlier cancelled 93 million line tender amidst controversies that the process lacked competition and also the PSU did not require capacity addition. Nokia-Siemens, which was disqualified from participating in the financial bid, had also challenged the decision. — PTI