To give a push to its 4G tender, which has been stuck for a year now, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has recommended two alternatives to the government. Both the alternatives get in touch with for splitting the tender into two components, albeit with some distinction.
The initial alternative suggests a two-aspect tender in which the expressions of interest (EoIs) for Part A comprising 50,000 web sites really should be reserved for Indian vendors, who really should construct the core of the network beneath a method integrated model.
It mentioned, in parallel, BSNL be permitted to float yet another tender, Part B, for the remaining 50,000 web sites, like the usual tender exactly where worldwide businesses like Nokia, Ericsson and other individuals can participate.
It has additional recommended that by the time of the technical evaluation of the Part B tender if any of the Indian vendor is in a position to full effectively trials of its technologies (proof of idea), they can also participate in it.
The second alternative also calls for a splitting the tender into two components but with a distinction. Here of the total 5 zones, the corporation really should be permitted to float tenders as per usual norms for 4 zones and reserve one zone for Indian businesses. It has recommended that the initial alternative is a greater one as it would offer you domestic makers bigger quantum of procurement.
The corporation has communicated to the government that its survival depends on early rollout of 4G services and so far there’s no established Indian core obtainable. It has mentioned that it apprehends that barring TCS, which has tied up with C-DoT to create a core, other individuals may possibly not be prosperous. Even if domestic vendors are prosperous in trial runs, they would take additional time to generate requisite quantities, which would additional delay the rollout of its 4G services.
BSNL has mentioned that as per an EoI floated by it, firms require to full the trials in 4 months, but except TCS most firms have sought for extension of the time frame to 6-8 months.
BSNL expects 4G rollout inside a period of 10 months on prosperous completion of trials by neighborhood firms. Assuming that the proof of idea (PoC) is effectively completed in 4 months, the network can be rolled out soon after 14 months from that date. But, in case PoC is not completed inside the specified timelines, the rollout timelines may possibly also get extended.
The trouble for BSNL arose as a government-appointed committee encouraged that the core of the 4G network really should be constructed by domestic vendors beneath a method integrator model and not by worldwide firms like Ericsson or Nokia. Further, the IPR or licence/copyright for the supply code of the computer software really should be owned by an Indian corporation and it have to have unrestricted, irrevocable access and licence to modify the supply code and provide computer software assistance for all future versions of the computer software. The supply code really should be deposited in an escrow account and really should be the similar as the version deployed in the field.