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Indian Telecom to Require Local Equipment Manufacture
(By John Ribeiro)
Indias two large telecommunications services companies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL), have decided to require their suppliers to manufacture equipment directly in India or through contract manufacturers in the country, the countrys minister for information technology and communications, Dayanidhi Maran, announced.
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The two companies made the decision to ensure quality, timely delivery, and good after-sales service, Maran said at the annual conference of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India. The government also plans to request that private sector operators in the country adopt a similar purchase policy, Maran said.
BSNL, based in Delhi, is fully government owned, while MTNL, also in Delhi, is majority-owned by the Indian government.
The decision would boost local manufacture of equipment, while multinational companies would benefit from making the equipment in India because of the financial advantages offered by the countrys low-cost labor, Maran said.
The Indian government is planning to have 250 million telephone connections in the country by the end 2007, which would take telephone penetration in the country to 22 percent. The government also aims to bring broad band connectivity to 10 million subscribers by the end of 2007. The country had 104 million telephone connections and a telephone penetration rate of 9.61 percent as of June, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in Delhi. BSNL was the largest service provider, with 47.5 million connections, while MTNL had about 5 million subscribers.
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