Ericsson Lowest Bidder In BSNL's Line Tender

Swedish telecom major Ericsson said Monday it had emerged as the lowest bidder for a multi-billion dollar GSM line contract offered by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., India's No. 3 mobile services firm.

India, Asia's fourth-largest economy, is witnessing a mobile revolution with local mobile calls of as low as 2 U.S. cents a minute in September luring 5.9 million new users to a 123.44 million-strong-market.

The contract is the second-straight major coup for Ericsson in the world's fastest growing wireless services market after it recently announced a $1 billion order from top mobile services provider, Bharti Airtel Ltd.

"Based on the numbers announced we were the lowest," an Ericsson official, who would not be identified, said. "Evaluation is still underway."

The official declined to put a figure on the winning bid, but a separate source said the firm's bid was at $107 per line, valuing Ericsson's share of the tender at $2.92 billion.

Ericsson's stock was quoting 1.16 percent higher at 26.10 crowns, outperforming the broad Stockholm market index which was trading flat.