ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Corp. announced it has won a contract valued at $141 million from Indian operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. for a GSM/EDGE/GPRS network expansion project in northern India.
Nokia said the expansion will include core and radio network equipment as well as a range of services, giving BSNL the chance to gain about 2 million new subscribers. The expansion is an extension of a $284 million GSM/EDGE/GPRS contract signed by Nokia and BSNL in 2004.
Nokia’s operations in India include networks and terminals sales divisions, three research and development facilities and an upcoming manufacturing facility in Chennai that will produce both terminals and GSM infrastructure equipment. Nokia also said plans to open a Global Networks Operation Center in India by the end of the year.
BSNL’s is one of India’s largest telecommunications operators with more than 42 million subscribers across 5,000 towns and about 12.5 million GSM cellular subscribers. The company’s net worth is $13.85 billion.
