Siemens India unit gets $29 mn Nepal network deal

NEW DELHI: A unit of India's Siemens Ltd. has won a contract worth about $29 million to build a nationwide mobile network in Nepal based on GSM technology, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Siemens Communications, owned by the Indian unit of Germany's Siemens, said the order was from Spice Nepal, which plans to launch mobile services from August in the Kathmandu valley area, and gradually expand to cover all major cities.

Siemens said it would take about 30 months to roll out a network to support a million users in Nepal, a landlocked, communication-starved country sandwiched between India and China.

Siemens Ltd. shares gained 1.6 percent to 2,129.80 rupees.