Motorola wins India’s first UMTS contract

Motorola Inc. announced an agreement with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), for the supply of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) cellular network for Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Under the agreement MTNL will expand its GSM network by 2 mln lines.

MTNL has ordered UMTS equipment for validation and plans to place further orders subject to allocation of frequency spectrum. Once UMTS equipment is in place, value added services are planned to be deployed to enable MTNL to gain new revenue streams.

Motorola’s UMTS solutions will enable MTNL to deploy wireless platforms that will address issues such as achieving a low cost-per-subscriber ratio and maintaining consistent service quality, within high-growth markets. The network will be deployed in two phases, each covering 1 mln subscribers.

MTNL was set up in 1986 by the government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services, expand the telecom network, and introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom development needs of India’s key metros — Delhi, the political capital and Mumbai, the business capital of India. MTNL is a “Navratna ” public sector undertaking and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The government holds a 56.25% stake in the company that achieved a customer base of 5.92 mln in March 2006.