Siemens Wins Indian GSM Contract

The Indian mobile operator Escotel Mobile Communications has commissioned Siemens to expand its GSM network. The contract worth US$35 million is to extend the network coverage throughout the country and increase the available capacity. With a market share of 14%, Siemens ranks third as supplier of mobile communication infrastructure in India; all the country's major operators number among its customers.

Last week Siemens has introduced six new mobile phones for the Indian market at a press conference in New Delhi. With Escotel - operating mobile networks in Uttar Pradesh (West), Haryana and Kerala - Siemens has won another network operator as a customer in this strategic market. Over the next four months Siemens will replace other manufacturers' installed mobile switching centers. Already existing Siemens equipment will be expanded easily and cost-efficiently, a total replacement is unnecessary due to its modular design. Siemens will also be further expanding Escotel's network over the next three years to include several hundred more base transceiver stations, and will replace old systems.

"Siemens technology will not only help us to manage our mobile radio network more efficiently in terms of operation and cost; it will also bring us a major step closer to mobile services of the third mobile radio generation," said Rajan Nanda, Chairman of Escotel and Escorts Limited. "Our network will be GPRS-ready and will allow us to migrate seamlessly to 3G."

Posted to the site on 29th May 2003