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Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) Board have decided to make it mandatory for the telecom equipment suppliers bidding for the BSNL/MTNL tenders to manufacture equipments directly or through contract manufacturer in India so as to ensure the quality, timeliness of delivery, after sales service etc. They are envisaging the value addition of 30% in the second year onwards. The Department also proposes to request the private operators to follow this methodology. Shri Maran disclosed this while speaking at the Annual Conference of Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA), here today. The Minister stated that the initiatives taken by the telecom service providers would ensure India becoming manufacturing hub for telecom equipments.
Shri Maran further said that the pro-active role of Government in facilitating foreign investment and setting up of manufacturing units has shown positive results. Elcoteq has already commenced production in Bangalore. Ericsson and ITI-Alcatel have started indigenous manufacture of Base Tower Station (BTS). Nokia is setting up a unit near Chennai with an investment of about Rs. 670 crore which will manufacture mobile handsets and network equipments. In addition to this Flextronics, Siemens, Motorola, LG, etc., have plans of making substantial investment in the telecom manufacturing sector.
Shri Maran emphasised the need to adopt innovative measures to ensure and enhance connectivity of rural India as nearly 700 million of our population live in the rural areas. Connectivity of village complexes providing economic opportunities to all segments of the population is a vital necessity to bridge the rural-urban divide, generate employment and enhance the prosperity of the agricultural economy, he said.
Speaking further on the occasion Shri Maran said that the challenge is not only to provide telecommunication services to the needy customers but to cope with their growing demand of various applications and quality of service. In spite of unlimited technological choices that exist among many operators the telecom product that customers want to buy is not just technology but the services which telecom technology makes possible. He further said that C-DOT, has played an important role in the development of telecom infrastructure, particularly the landlines for the rural areas. He recalled that C-DOT has recently tied up with Alcatel for the development of WiMAX products in India and setup an R&D unit in Chennai. He further said that the Government was committed to introduce more new technologies. Major emphasis will be on upgradation of Next Generation Mobile Wireless technologies on Wi-Max Platform. There has been several initiatives in the field of 3G (Third Generation) technology as a result of the technology revolution during the past few years.
RM/AMA- 051005 TEMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
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