BSNL in second round of Zamtel bid

NEW DELHI: Inching closer to its first ever global buyout, state-owned BSNL has entered the second round of bidding to acquire a majority stake in Zambia’s leading telecom company Zambia Telecommunications (Zamtel). “All the four companies that submitted the first round bids on December 23, 2009, for up to 75% stake in Zamtel have successfully gone to the second round of bidding,” Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), an official agency promoting economic growth and development, said. When contacted BSNL chairman and MD Kuldeep Goyal said ”...We had participated, now selected, we shall see and go forward from here.”

Asked about the due diligence, BSNL had done before putting in its initial bid, Mr Goyal declined to give details about the bid and company details and said “now again we have to see and take a call for the next round of bidding.” Zamtel, with a revenue of $100 million (till december, 2009), is Zambia’s only licenced fixed-line provider of voice and data communications.