MUNICH, Germany—Siemens said Bharti Cellular has selected it to supply GSM and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) equipment for several new networks in India. The first networks are scheduled to start operating this month.
The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Siemens will supply Bharti’s mobile networks in the Calcutta and Madhya Pradesh telecom circles with turnkey equipment. Siemens will supply GSM technology, radio relay systems and intelligent network services for Bharti’s networks in the Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat circles.
India awarded two new mobile licenses in nearly all its telecom circles earlier this year. There were 4.8 million mobile-phone subscribers in India at the end of September, Siemens said.
In related news, Bharti selected Nortel Networks to supply its nationwide customer care contact centers for its cellular service. Call centers, staffed by 40 to 100 agents, will serve each of Bharti’s 15 cellular circles, including the eight circles in which Bharti acquired licenses this year. The contract is worth US$5 million.
