Gear makers in race to sell Rs 500 crore equipment to BSNL

KOLKATA: Global network vendors Ericsson , Alcatel-Lucent , Huawei, ZTE and two Indian suppliers — Hyderabad-based Prithvi Information Solutions (PISL) and Sterlite Group — are in the race to sell Rs 500-crore of telecoms equipment to state-run BSNL for upgrading its country-wide landline network , two executives aware of the development told ET.

The telecom PSU, which controls 70% of India’s wireline turf, will shortly select two vendors for replacing its 38,000-odd fixed-line exchanges with next generation network equipment to transform BSNL’s landline experience and future-proof the network. Bulk of its existing exchanges run on C-DoT technology while the rest are imported units, classified as “old tech”.