Ericsson bags USD 135 million BSNL order

Ericsson has bagged the GSM infrastructure order worth USD 135 million (Rupees 640 Crores) from BSNL for the North Zone. Ericsson has received the APO (advance purchase order) for the North zone while the tender for the East zone is in the final stage of negotiation.  The company will add a total capacity of 1.05 million subscribers in North zone covering Uttar Pradesh (W), Uttar Pradesh (E), Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The tender for the East zone involves setting up a network capacity of 466,000 connections in the states of Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and other North Eastern states. The five-year contract is to be executed in eight months with continuing support from Ericsson for the remaining period. It includes the supply, implementation and support of core GSM infrastructure along with microwave equipment, billing, customer care solutions, WAP, unified messaging service and other supporting infrastructure.