WiMax solutions developer Alvarion Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR; TASE: ALVR) has moved forward in a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) WiMAX tender in India, according to Indian personal finance website "MyIris".
BSNL has given letters of intent to Teracom Ltd., Take Solutions Ltd., Adishwar India Ltd., and Ampoules Ltd. to roll out WiMax-based broadband services as a franchisee.
Adishwar and Ampoules have partnered Alvarion in the tenders. Teracom has partnered with Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), and Take Solution is partnered with China's ZTE Corp. (HKSE: 0763; Shenchen: 0063). BSNL had received bids from five companies of which four have been selected to offer broadband services on a revenue-sharing model. The fifth bid from E-Mall, backed by ZTE, did not make the cut.
However, sources close the matter told "Globes" that the tender is not yet closed, and talk about Alvarion's winning it are premature. Alvarion has not received any official letter from BSNL, let alone orders or signed contracts.
Alvarion has not yet responded to the report.
The BSNL tender is for the supply of 7,000 WiMAX base stations in rural areas. A contract is worth an estimated tens of millions of dollars.
Alvarion's share price fell 3.3% on Nasdaq yesterday to NIS 2.35, giving a market cap of $146 million, but rose 0.4% by midday on the TASE to NIS 9.37.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 20, 2010
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