The Hindu Business Line : Siemens Communications firms up bid for BSNL tender

With Indian telecom set to boost broadband services, Siemens Communications, a major player in the global space, is betting big on getting a good slice of the upcoming market, through direct entry and partnerships.

The € 13 billion company has firmed up its bid for the six million lines tender floated by the BSNL and will make a strong bid, said Mr Christian Unterberger, President (Fixed Networks), based in Munich.

"The BSNL project holds the key for Siemens future journey in India's growth in the broadband segment. We hope to get a L1, L2 positioning in the tenders," Mr Unterberger told Business Line in an interview in Hong Kong recently.

Siemens Group, with its long presence in the country is positioned well with its multiple business divisions also. The Communications Group is pitching hard to be a part of the broadband, NGN (next generation networks) and mobile infrastructure to deliver a range of solutions, he said.

With emphasis on high bandwidth consuming applications, Siemens finds itself in a small market in India at present. At four-million subscriber base, the utility of broadband is low now. In comparison, it is 70 per cent households in Korea, around 45 per cent in Japan and rapidly growing in China (50-54 million households), Hong Kong, Thailand etc. Mr Unterberger said.

A typical broadband connection means, a household has high-speed Internet access based on DSL and TV cable. It has a fibre optic line and wireless technologies such as WiMax. This facility enables access to a range of applications for the consumer.

With broadband connectivity, it would be possible for households to get the `Triple Play,' which is a bundle of telephone, Internet access and entertainment content offered by some operators. Siemens, has offered its own version of the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), called the Surpass Home Entertainment to major Indian customers and hope to forge arrangement soon, he added.

Highlighting the importance accorded to the Research and Development (R&D) Centre in Bangalore, Mr Unterberger said it would be a hub for development of worldwide products and special emphasis would be on broadband applications. The increase in investments and headcount in India is definitely on the anvil, but depends on the market and the company's growth, he added.

The Asia-Pacific region is offering a tremendous potential for the telecommunications group as a third of the global telecom revenues are coming from here. In tune with this, Siemens Communications announced the acquisition of optics specialist, Photonic Bridges Co. Ltd, which is based in Shanghai on May 16. It will now have a strong presence in the Chinese broadband market, which studies forecast to touch 113 million connections by end of 2008.