Nokia, which is still awaiting Mahanagar Telephone Nigam to place a
purchase order nearly two years after the state-run company certified it
as the lowest bidder for a Rs 1,139-crore equipment contract, has
escalated the matter by bringing it to the notice of the telecom
minister.
The Finnish equipment maker has written a letter to MTNL chairman NK Yadav, copies of which were marked to minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, telecom secretary Rakesh Garg and the MTNL board, warning that any delay in the issuance of the purchase order would "severely impact MTNL's revival plan and only help its competitors". has seen a copy of this letter.
A Nokia spokesman said the company is looking forward to receiving the "purchase order at the earliest" as it had accepted MTNL's terms and conditions of the advance purchase order (APO) issued in March this year. "The matter should be closed with urgency (by MTNL) since Nokia became L1 bidder in the tender back in January 2014. It has also submitted the Rs 49 crore) bank guarantee in addition to unconditionally complying with MTNL's APO conditions, including security agreement requirements several months back," the spokesman said in a written response to ET's queries.
State-run MTNL operates mobile services in the country's top two telecom markets, Delhi and Mumbai, and needs to reinforce its network urgently to hold on to its fast-dwindling GSM customer base, which is now a modest three million.
MTNL chairman and managing director Yadav didn't respond until press time on Friday to ET's email seeking comment.
Matters have reached a head since MTNL has declined to place purchase orders despite Nokia making arrangements with its own factories and third-party component suppliers to ensure deliveries of 2G and 3G networks to the state-run telco.
Urging MTNL to "expedite the issuance" of the purchase order, Nokia wrote "it had already conducted preliminary site surveys and lined up deliveries" of components from its own factories and third-party suppliers for timely completion of the state-run telco's GSM network modernization project.
Under the terms of the contract, Nokia India is to supply 2G and 3G gear as well as radio access network and intelligent network systems to MTNL for the project to upgrade and expand its GSM network in the two metro cities.
The order also covers supply of nearly 2,500 base stations and maintenance of the telco's GSM network for seven years.
Industry experts believe MTNL's survival hinges on the immediate reinforcement of its core network in order to support higher data speeds and latest smartphone applications, especially at a time when private sector rivals like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are ramping up their 3G and 4G play and also gearing up for Reliance Jio Infocomm's much awaited 4G services rollout.
The Finnish equipment maker has written a letter to MTNL chairman NK Yadav, copies of which were marked to minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, telecom secretary Rakesh Garg and the MTNL board, warning that any delay in the issuance of the purchase order would "severely impact MTNL's revival plan and only help its competitors". has seen a copy of this letter.
A Nokia spokesman said the company is looking forward to receiving the "purchase order at the earliest" as it had accepted MTNL's terms and conditions of the advance purchase order (APO) issued in March this year. "The matter should be closed with urgency (by MTNL) since Nokia became L1 bidder in the tender back in January 2014. It has also submitted the Rs 49 crore) bank guarantee in addition to unconditionally complying with MTNL's APO conditions, including security agreement requirements several months back," the spokesman said in a written response to ET's queries.
State-run MTNL operates mobile services in the country's top two telecom markets, Delhi and Mumbai, and needs to reinforce its network urgently to hold on to its fast-dwindling GSM customer base, which is now a modest three million.
MTNL chairman and managing director Yadav didn't respond until press time on Friday to ET's email seeking comment.
Matters have reached a head since MTNL has declined to place purchase orders despite Nokia making arrangements with its own factories and third-party component suppliers to ensure deliveries of 2G and 3G networks to the state-run telco.
Urging MTNL to "expedite the issuance" of the purchase order, Nokia wrote "it had already conducted preliminary site surveys and lined up deliveries" of components from its own factories and third-party suppliers for timely completion of the state-run telco's GSM network modernization project.
Under the terms of the contract, Nokia India is to supply 2G and 3G gear as well as radio access network and intelligent network systems to MTNL for the project to upgrade and expand its GSM network in the two metro cities.
The order also covers supply of nearly 2,500 base stations and maintenance of the telco's GSM network for seven years.
Industry experts believe MTNL's survival hinges on the immediate reinforcement of its core network in order to support higher data speeds and latest smartphone applications, especially at a time when private sector rivals like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are ramping up their 3G and 4G play and also gearing up for Reliance Jio Infocomm's much awaited 4G services rollout.
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