KATHMANDU, DEC 02, 2012
Nepal Telecom (NT) has decided to award ´Package A´ of its 10 million GSM lines project to Chinese telecom vendor Huawei.
The state-controlled telecom operator did not have any option other than approaching Huawei after the other two bidders cold-shouldered its offer. Still, NT took some time to award the contract to Huawei after some of its board members showed unwillingness to award the contract to install 5.2 million GSM lines to the Chinese vendor.
Huawei has already signed final agreement with NT to execute ´Package B´ of the project. As the lowest bidder, the Chinese firm had bagged the contract for Rs 6.75 billion.
"The board meeting on Wednesday finally decided to issue Letter of Intent to Huawei for the installation of 5.2 million GSM lines," said Pramod Gurung, one of the board members of NT. He told Republica that the board took the decision after two of the three vendors who participated in the bid rejected the offer.
Gunakeshari Pradhan, spokesperson of NT, said the operator would issue the Letter of Intent to Huawei shortly.
The bid for the ´Package A´ consisting of 5.2 million GSM lines was originally won by another Chinese vendor ZTE. But it later pulled out after NT turned down its request to raise the cost for implementing the project.
After seizing ZTE´s bid bond worth Rs 420 million, NT had offered the project to Ericsson. But the Swedish vendor, which had quoted the highest bid among three bidders, also cold shouldered NT´s offer.
Under ´Package A´, NT plans to distribute 2G, 3G and 4G lines in rural and hilly areas of central, eastern, far-western and mid-western development regions. Although it had targeted to complete the project by 2015, it is likely to be pushed back.
Similarly, under ´Package B´, NT targets to cover Bagmati, Gandaki, Dhaulagiri and Lumbini zones, mostly urban areas.
According to NT, the equipment delivery for many areas of the capital has been completed and installation has begun. NT is preparing to distribute new lines under this project by the end of current fiscal year.
Source: Republica
Nepal Telecom (NT) has decided to award ´Package A´ of its 10 million GSM lines project to Chinese telecom vendor Huawei.
The state-controlled telecom operator did not have any option other than approaching Huawei after the other two bidders cold-shouldered its offer. Still, NT took some time to award the contract to Huawei after some of its board members showed unwillingness to award the contract to install 5.2 million GSM lines to the Chinese vendor.
Huawei has already signed final agreement with NT to execute ´Package B´ of the project. As the lowest bidder, the Chinese firm had bagged the contract for Rs 6.75 billion.
"The board meeting on Wednesday finally decided to issue Letter of Intent to Huawei for the installation of 5.2 million GSM lines," said Pramod Gurung, one of the board members of NT. He told Republica that the board took the decision after two of the three vendors who participated in the bid rejected the offer.
Gunakeshari Pradhan, spokesperson of NT, said the operator would issue the Letter of Intent to Huawei shortly.
The bid for the ´Package A´ consisting of 5.2 million GSM lines was originally won by another Chinese vendor ZTE. But it later pulled out after NT turned down its request to raise the cost for implementing the project.
After seizing ZTE´s bid bond worth Rs 420 million, NT had offered the project to Ericsson. But the Swedish vendor, which had quoted the highest bid among three bidders, also cold shouldered NT´s offer.
Under ´Package A´, NT plans to distribute 2G, 3G and 4G lines in rural and hilly areas of central, eastern, far-western and mid-western development regions. Although it had targeted to complete the project by 2015, it is likely to be pushed back.
Similarly, under ´Package B´, NT targets to cover Bagmati, Gandaki, Dhaulagiri and Lumbini zones, mostly urban areas.
According to NT, the equipment delivery for many areas of the capital has been completed and installation has begun. NT is preparing to distribute new lines under this project by the end of current fiscal year.
Source: Republica
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