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Motorola $307 m richer, thanks to India

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW DELHI: Wireless equipment giant Motorola Inc said that it had won orders worth more than $307 million from three Indian firms to provide telecom gear for future expansion in one of the world's fastest growing markets.

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"The agreements include deployment of new networks, as well as expansion and upgrades of existing networks for both GSM and CDMA-based systems," Chicago-based Motorola said in a statement. "The majority of the revenue, is expected to be recognized in 2004."

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), India's largest telecom firm by revenue, passed an order equivalent to more than one million GSM lines to Motorola as a part of the New Delhi-based firm's expansion in the country's southern states.



The order includes value-added services such as multimedia messaging and facilities for accessing the Internet at faster speeds.

Unlisted BSNL provides telecom services across India except in the two main markets of New Delhi, the national capital, and Bombay, the financial hub, where another state-run company operates -- Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL).

Motorola said New Delhi-based MTNL had placed an order to increase the number of GSM lines by 400,000 each in Delhi and Bombay -- the two largest markets for mobile services in India.



The statement said Motorola also won an order from Tata Teleservices Ltd, a unit of India's second-largest business group, the Tatas, for expanding its CDMA2000 1X mobile network in Delhi, Bombay and the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

"The contract is among the largest CDMA contracts to be awarded globally," it added.



India's nascent mobile sector more than doubled last year thanks to some of the lowest tariffs in the world, which have lured customers to the under-penetrated market.



The number of users is forecast to touch at least 100 million by 2005, up from more than 30 million now.



BSNL, MTNL and Tata Teleservices are among more than a dozen firms fighting for a share of the expanding mobile pie.



(C) Reuters

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