BSNL headquarters in Delhi (Wikipedia)In a major positive development towards the manifestation of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, state-owned ITI is set to place a bid for BSNL's upcoming tender for 4G network equipment and technology upgrade in partnership with Indian software giants, reports Times of India.
Presently, all the telecom service providers operating 4G networks in India depend on Chinese network equipment from Huawei or ZTE, equipment from European players Nokia and Ericsson, or South Korea's Samsung. Thus, entry of Indian players in the sector comes with great significance.
The Indian software majors TCS and Tech Mahindra are said to have been two major players which ITI has reached out to, in order to finalise a deal setup wherein ITI would manufacture the hardware, while the partner software major will bring in telecom technology solutions. The agreement is set to be finalised over the next few weeks.
The development comes as the previous tender floated by BSNL was cancelled to enable Indian players to enter the fray, while keeping Chinese players out of the contest in the wake of ongoing simmering tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh where 20 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding officer were martyred on the night of 15-16 June.
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