BSNL to retender for 4G mobile network

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has had to cancel the March 23 tender the PSU had invited for planning, engineering, supply, installation, testing, commissioning and annual maintenance of 4G mobile network in North, East, West and South zones of BSNL, and MTNL, Delhi and Mumbai on turnkey basis. The value of the order is estimated at Rs 8697 crore.

The Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC), had complained to the Commerce and Industry Ministry and the cabinet secretary in the PMO that the tendering process flouted the Government of India’s Make in India policy and was heavily in favour of multinational companies. It also did not comply with the provisions of the Public Procurement Order of 2017.

The TEPC identified numerous conditions in the tender which effectively disqualified domestic bidders. One, the bidder has to have a minimum turnover of Rs 8,000 crore in the last two years. Another, the bidder should have experience of installing and commissioning over 20 million lines of GSM 900 and or GSM 1800 and experience of rolling out networks of the size of a minimum two million lines. Further, the bidder should also have 3GPPP or higher version of UMTS network of a total capacity of five million subscribers in at least two countries.

The TEPC said that based on the items tendered and the fact that the project is fully funded by the government, the policy on public procurement is mandatory for BSNL.

However, the All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB) had sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to ensure that the authorities examine the issue in a time-bound manner and allow it to go ahead with the 4G tendering process. Their stand was that none of the Indian suppliers manufacture 4G equipment and also have no experience of building 4G networks. On the pretext of Make in India, the equipment, a lifeline for BSNL is being stopped, said AUAB, in its letter. It maintained that when BSNL’s competitors are procuring 4G equipment from experienced vendors with proven technology, why should BSNL alone be compelled to procure sub-standard equipment. It alleged that some service providers had vested interest in not letting the tender go through.

In response to TEPC’s compliant, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) asked DoT and BSNL to put the tender on hold.

Moving forward, it is expected that the DoT will form a committee that will monitor whether BSNL is following all the rules and preference is given to companies that are manufacturing telecom equipment in India. The main determining condition will be the 40-65 percent value addition one. Whereas Nokia and Ericsson, while manufacturing telecom products in India, have a local content value addition of 40 percent, government norms call for 40-65 percent depending on the products. The major Indian players in this segment  are VNL, Tejas Networks, Coral Telecom, Paramount Cables, and Tirumala.

Details of the bid.

Tender number, MM/CM/GSM-Ph-IX/T-681/2020 was issued on March 23, 2020 by BSNL. It was postponed to June 23,2020 (bid submission end date) & June 24,2020 (bid opening date).

The requirement is for:

• Planning, engineering, supply, installation, testing, commissioning and annual maintenance of 4G mobile network in North, East, West and South zones of BSNL on turnkey basis. Estimated quantity: 50,000 nos. 4G sites and associated elements; and
• Planning, engineering, supply, installation, testing, commissioning and annual maintenance of 4G mobile network in Delhi and Mumbai LSA of MTNL on turnkey basis. Estimated quantity: 7000 nos. 4G sites and associated elements.

There are four zones of BSNL namely North, East, South & West Zone. For this tender the total requirement of MTNL will be considered as fifth zone namely MTNL Zone. The distribution of tender quantities among the bidders will be done zone wise in following manner:

For award of the contract, the bidder with the lowest evaluated price of the technically & commercially responsive bids (L1) will be given the choice to select any three of the five zones for which tender is floated.

L2 bidder, thereafter, will be given the choice to select any one of the remaining two zones at L1 price, through suitable de-rating of its offered prices based on L1 package price. In case L2 decline to accept the offer, the same shall be offered to L3 bidder and so on at L1 price through suitable derating. If all the remaining participating bidder(s) refuse the offer then it shall be obligatory on L1 bidder to choose one of the remaining two zones at L1 price.

Remaining fifth zone will be given to ITI Limited against Reservation Quota at L1 price. In case of refusal by ITI, it shall be obligatory on L1 bidder to accept this zone as well at L1 price.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to qualify as an eligible bidder, a prospective bidder shall fulfill the following eligibility criteria:

(i) The bidder shall be a company registered in India and incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956/2013.

(ii) The bidder and its parent company shall not have any equity stake or operating partnership in mobile segment with any other cellular operators except MTNL in India. The successful bidder shall not acquire equity share or enter into partnership with any other cellular mobile operator except MTNL in India for a period of 2 years from the date of the Notice Inviting Tender. The bidder shall furnish a certificate in this regard, which shall form the part of the bid. However, entering into operating partnership with any cellular operators for the limited purpose of any government project like Smart City etc. is allowed and will not be considered as an ineligibility.

(iii) The bidder or its parent company shall be manufacturer of 4G Radio Access Network (e-UTRAN).

(iv) The bidder shall be registered in India to carry out telecom related activity.

(v) The bidder or its parent company shall possess experience of planning, engineering, supply, installation, commissioning of at least a total of 20 million lines of GSM 900 and/or GSM 1800 network comprising of GERAN, MSC, SGSN and GGSN. The experience sought can be from single or multiple networks. Only successfully completed contracts of the bidder or its parent company shall be counted towards such experience.

(vi) The bidder or its parent company shall have the experience of rolling out the network of the size of minimum 2 million lines comprising of GERAN, MSC, SGSN and GGSN. The experience shall also include among other activities de-commissioning, de-installation, re-installation and re-commissioning of the swapped BSS and implement full interworking in a multi-vendor environment. Only successfully completed contracts of the bidder or its parent company shall be counted towards such experience.

(vii) The bidder or its parent company shall have supplied, installed and commissioned a minimum of 2000 Node-Bs of UTRAN. The details are to be included in the bid. These Node-Bs should be working in minimum two UMTS networks of different countries.

(viii) The bidder or its parent company shall have at least two 3GPP Release-4 or higher version UMTS core network of total capacity of at least 5 million subscribers in two countries. These networks should have been commercially operational for at least six months as on the bid opening date.

(ix) The bidder or its parent company shall have supplied, installed and commissioned a minimum of 2000 e-Node-Bs of LTE. The details are to be included in the Bid. These e-Node-Bs should be working in minimum two LTE networks of different countries.

(x) The bidder or its parent company shall have at least two 3GPP Release-8 or higher version LTE core network with IMS of total capacity of at least 1 million subscribers in two countries. These networks should have been commercially operational for at least six months as on the Bid Opening Date.

(xi) The experience of the Bidder can include the experience of its parent company. Multiple bids, if any, received from same Bidder under this arrangement, then all such bids shall be rejected

(xii) The Bidder shall be a company having a minimum turnover of Rs. 8000 crores each in the last two years (2017-18 and 2018-19 in case of Financial Year and 2017 & 2018 in case of Calendar Year). Such audited reports shall be substantiated by the audited profit and loss account. In case of an Indian subsidiary, the turnover of the parent company may also be taken into consideration for determining the fulfilment of this condition under Clause 4.1(xii).

(xiii) The bidder shall submit a self-declaration along with the evidence that the bidder is not blacklisted by GST authorities.

Decision is awaited from the ministry.

—CT Bureau