Indian publication the Economic Times reports that Ericsson has made a complaint about the ongoing tender process to supply network infrastructure equipment to state-owned operator BSNL, potentially further delaying the operator’s already significantly slowed network expansion. According to the paper, Ericsson took action after rival Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) asked BSNL not to enforce a clause in the tender contract which would require it to submit equipment source code to the government, with the Swedish giant arguing that this violates guidelines which prevent the operator from modifying its terms part-way through the tender process. It was previously reported that Ericsson had subsequently pulled-out of the race due to the fact that it could not agree with the security requirements imposed by the tender documents. BSNL began the selection process in September 2010, inviting bids from five companies – Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, NSN and ZTE.

It was also said that Ericsson has made a complaint about an earlier tender, which was cancelled following concern about security issues which led to the non-participation of Chinese equipment vendors Huawei and ZTE – these companies were subsequently cleared to supply products to Indian operators. BSNL’s network expansion tender has been mired in controversy and delays since it was first launched in 2008, when it was one of the world’s largest ever network contracts. In the early stages, Ericsson and Huawei were named as winners, although this never led to the rollout of network equipment, and BSNL instead opted to issue several smaller contracts. It has been reported that the operator is believed to be running out of GSM capacity in many of its operating circles.