Having expanded services in British Isles and Seychelles, the company is planning to expand its services in Sri Lanka where it has got a license to offer 2G and 3G services. The company plans to launch services in Sri Lanka by January/February '08, and is planning to sign up with Huawei for a managed services contract. The managed services contract is similar to Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks contract signed for pan India operations. The value of the contract is expected to be $110 mn plus.

Bharti Airtel is also planning managed services contract for its fixed line network on similar lines to that of mobile networks done three years ago. For managed services, the company is in active discussion with Alcatel, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.

BSNL, the incumbent operator, has a subscriber base of 29 mn mobiles, and has massive expansion plans. Initially, the plan was to deploy 63.5 mn lines of which 45.5 mn lines were through tender whereas 18 mn lines were for the Western region, to be implemented by ITI along with Alcatel. But with the change in guard at the Ministry of Communications, there was a review of the tender and a three member committee was formed to look into different aspects of the tender process. Finally, after a discussion by the three member committee and the BSNL board, the size of the tender has been reduced by half-to 22.75 mn lines. And it seems even the ITI order size will get reduced from 18 mn lines to 8.9 mn lines.

Out of 22.75 mn lines, 6.5 mn lines will be 3G which will be awarded once the 3G policy is being announced. So, Ericsson will get 13.2 mn lines whereas Nokia will get 9.55 mn lines. And at the rate of Rs 3,854 per line the cost of the total deal size comes to around Rs 8,768 crore.

Ericsson, the L1 bidder has been issued APO (advanced purchase order) and has been given 14 days to accept or reject the offer. In case it is accepted or rejected it is then given to the L2 bidder for a similar exercise.

Recently, BSNL has also selected the Tekelec EAGLE 5 Integrated Signaling System solution to support transition to next-generation networks through ITI. BSNL is extending an existing relationship with Tekelec for traditional signaling system 7 (SS7) solutions initiated in 2005. The project will expand the existing deployment of 10 EAGLE 5 ISS nodes and adds an additional 14 nodes, which is one of Tekelec's largest single shipments of EAGLE 5 ISS nodes.

Tekelec solution will provide BSNL with a separate signaling plane that utilizes IP-based connectivity and centralized control and routing to connect its varied, highly dispersed signaling end-points. The Tekelec solution gives BSNL a homogeneous SS7 core network-independent of the service or technology used in the network-while providing a future-proof platform that supports applications such as number portability, integrated monitoring and routing optimization for home local registers (HLRs) and voicemail servers. The contract covers both wireless and wireline and will cover 20% of the existing capacity. The value of the contract is worth Rs 100 crore.

Reliance Communications has a mobile base of 33 mn. The company has taken 4 years to acquire the first 30 mn customers and plans are to add another 20 mn in a year's time. On the optic fiber network, the company has 100,000 km and plans for another 130,000 km by end of 2008. Till date, the company has invested around Rs 32,000 crore and plans are to invest over Rs 16,000 crore in FY '08. In terms of tower, the company has added around 13,849 towers till date and plans are to build 23,000 new towers in 2008.

If version 1.0 of the Indian telecom story was about affordability then version 2.0 will be about reach says Anil Ambani, chairman, Reliance Communications.

The company has recently awarded Alcatel-Lucent an IP-based next-generation CDMA network contract for eleven circles valued at more than $400 mn. The contract will enable Reliance Communications to expand its wireless network to more than 20,000 towns and 600,000 villages. The project is valid for a year. The project includes installation and commissioning of IP-ready 3G core and 3G ready base stations. As per contract, Alcatel-Lucent will upgrade Reliance's CDMA network with additional mobile switching centers and base stations. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide a comprehensive suite of network integration services, including network optimization, system support and general project management.

Reliance Communications has also awarded a network expansion contract worth $200 mn to Huawei Technologies for seven circles. Under the agreement, Huawei will supply and provide services for CDMA base stations, including BSC and switches, and help create first class all-IP next generation network infrastructure. The project is for seven circles and includes installation and commissioning of IP-ready 3G core and 3G ready base stations. The contract for Huawei is valid for one year.

Reliance is also in the final stages to finalize a $125 mn deal for CDMA and GSM infrastructure along with ZTE. The project is for commissioning IP-ready 3G core and 3G ready base stations.

Spice Communications has also given expansion orders worth Rs 185 crore to ZTE for GSM infrastructure in Karnataka and Punjab circles.

Conclusion
The other operators do not want to be left behind and also move along with the leaders. Hutchison Essar has annouced an RFP for 20,000 BTS which has not been finalized. The company is also planing for its own NLD network, and plans are also on for OFC deployment of 12,000-14,000 km of OFC backbone. Aircel also has very ambitious plans and has announced an RFP of 25,000 BTS. The company has only finalized Nokia for Kolkata and is in talks with Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens and ZTE. Even Tata Teleservices has to focus on network expansion in a big way in order to keep pace with their counterparts. So, it's raining dollars for vendors.

Pravin Prashant
pravinp@cybermedia.co.in