NEW DELHI: U.S. communications equipment maker UTStarcom Inc. said it had received an order worth $8.2 million to supply telecoms gear to India's state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

California-based UTStarcom said in a statement its equipment would help New Delhi-based BSNL, India's largest telecoms firm by sales, to extend high-speed Internet services across the country.

BSNL provides telecoms services throughout India, except in the two main markets of Delhi and Mumbai, which are covered by another state-run firm, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

Both MTNL and BSNL compete with private players such as the Reliance and Tata business groups and Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. in the country's booming telecoms market.

Apart from expanding its mobile services networks, BSNL has forayed into broadband services because there is huge potential in India. The market is in a nascent stage of development, with only around 200,000 fast Internet connections in the country.

Only two in 10,000 Indians have a high-speed connection, compared with one out of every four people in South Korea.

India's telecom regulator is pushing for tax cuts and license fee cuts to slash costs and make the service more widespread. The country has a target of 20 million broadband connections by 2010.