Indian operator BSNL has invited bids for a deal reported to be potentially worth over US$6.5 billion for the supply of 93 million GSM lines, a contract India’s Economic Times is already calling the world’s largest-ever GSM deal. Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires cites BSNL’s director of finance as stating that global equipment vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Motorola, Nortel Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and ZTE are expected to participate in the bidding process. The bids from all companies will be opened by 16 July, with the award process taking a further six to eight months.

BSNL is India’s fourth-largest mobile operator and plans to expand its network to match the subscriber addition pace of its rivals. Reports suggest approximately 21 million of the total 93 million lines will be reserved for future 3G services in the country. Last month a proposal by India’s Telecommunication Commission (TC) to only allow three mobile providers to operate 3G services caused uproar among the wider mobile operator community. The TC plans for one of the three successful bidders to be state-owned BSNL, which would be required to match the highest bid placed by private operators when the auction occurs.