ITI wins large orders for GSM lines from BSNL, MTNL

Public sector telecom equipment manufacturer ITI Limited has won new orders for GSM mobile network equipment from PSU telecom service providers MTNL and BSNL.

The order from MTNL is for two million additional lines for the Delhi region. The order includes both 2G and 3G networks and would be executed in phases of one million lines each. The total order from MTNL is worth Rs750 crore.

BSNL has also placed an order for two million GSM lines with ITI. The orders are for various circles currently operated by BSNL. Subscriber additions by BSNL have been very strong in recent months and the company is facing capacity constraints in many fast growing circles.

ITI said the orders would be executed during the financial year ended March 2007. The company said it is executing orders for three million GSM lines worth Rs1,200 crore during the current financial year.

ITI is one of the very few telecom equipment manufacturers in the country. Being a PSU, the company is preferred by PSU service providers like BSNL and MTNL. BSNL is expected to finalise a large order, reportedly worth around $4 billion, in the next few months.

ITI had also set up a GSM mobile handset manufacturing plant in the state of UP in collaboration with Alcatel of France.

However, the financial performance of ITI so far has not been very inspiring. ITI reported a net loss of Rs81.91 crore or Rs2.84 per share on total revenues of Rs458.95 crore for the December quarter. For the previous quarter ended 30 September, the company reported a net loss of Rs98.14 crore or Rs3.41 per share on revenues of Rs290.87 crore.

ITI is trading at Rs76.65 (up 7.13 per cent) at 11.26 AM on the NSE today.