India's Reliance Communications (RCom) is reported to have placed an order worth US$500 million for network infrastructure with China's Huawei. A source told The Economic Times that the order has already been signed and confirmed that it was worth US$500. No further details were provided.
The company has been widely reported to be preparing a massive GSM network tender, worth around US$5.6 billion, which is expected to be for some 70 million GSM lines, and dwarfs the troubled 22.7 million GSM lines contract from state controlled BSNL. Although, only a couple of weeks ago, BSNL said that it was preparing to place an order worth US$500 million - for CDMA network kit.
Huawei has been in talks in the past with RCom for network tenders, although nothing significant came from those discussions.
RCom already operates a GSM network, and though clever use of CDMA licenses has become the country's largest CDMA operator. The company's CDMA network has been engaged in a sharp price war with the GSM operators, and it is presumed will seek to undercut the GSM service when its national network is ready. According to figures from the Mobile World, RCom had some 31.3 million CDMA subscribers at the end of September along with 5 million GSM customers.
On the web: The Economic Times - Mobile World
Posted to the site on 21st January 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/28738.php