Motorola Takes Indian Service Provider to Court

In the wake of reports that it had been disqualified on technical grounds in its bid for a large contract, Motorola has taken Indian government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) to court.

Reports in Indian newspapers said that BSNL had selected Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Nokia as the winners of a tender for Global System for Mobile Communications and third-generation equipment. The reports also said that Motorola and Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE had been disqualified on technical grounds.

BSNL sources declined to comment. The company has not yet put out a public statement about the bidding. Motorola said on Monday that it had learned from informal sources on Saturday that it had not been invited to participate in the final bid.

Earlier this year, BSNL invited bids for the supply of equipment for 45 million lines. Another 18 million lines were reserved for ITI, a telecommunications equipment company that is majority-owned by the Indian government.

Motorola has regularly been in discussions with BSNL ever since it invited technical discussions and has responded positively to all the technical queries raised by BSNL, Motorola said late on Monday. As recently as a week ago, Motorola provided compliance undertakings on various requirements desired by BSNL, the Schaumburg, Ill., company said. At no point in time was Motorola told that its bid was being dropped due to technical reasons, it added.

Motorola has challenged its disqualification in the Delhi High Court and is seeking further clarification and transparency in the tender process. The company said it was not seeking any special consideration, but rather equal consideration.

-John Ribeiro, IDG News Service (Bangalore Bureau)

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