BSNL may order 10 mln GSM lines from Ericsson, Nortel

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd said it may order mobile phone lines worth about $910 million from Ericsson or Nortel Networks Corp, after a rival supplier missed a deadline to accept the order.

Nokia Siemens Networks was the second-lowest bidder in a tender for 23 million GSM lines by BSNL earlier this year.

Rules say BSNL must order 40 percent of the tender, or 10 million lines, from the second-lowest bidder if it is willing to match the lowest bidder's price.

Ericsson offered the lowest bid of about $91 a line and accepted an order for 13.1 million lines worth about $1.3 billion in September.

Nokia Siemens, which bid $171 a line, has missed a deadline to respond to the order, BSNL said.

"Nokia Siemens has not given an unconditional acceptance," BSNL's Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters.

If Nokia Siemens does not take up the order, the Indian telecoms firm would consider awarding it to other companies like Ericsson and Nortel, Goyal said.

Nokia Siemens is negotiating with BSNL, but the lower cost is the sticking point, he said.

"They are keen to supply part (of the 10 million lines) at Ericsson's price," Goyal said, adding that BSNL would decide within a month on the firms it would place the orders with.