Company bags Rs67crore BSNL contract

The state-owned telecom company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will now also start WiMax service in rural area of Gujarat. The Chennai-based IT firm, Gemini Communication has won an order from BSNL to provide the service in rural area of the state.

Gemini Communication, which is listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), announced on Tuesday that it has bagged an order worth Rs67 crore from BSNL for its rural mobile WiMax project.

BSNL has already awarded WiMax order for urban Gujarat to Soma Networks, which launched its services a week ago. "We also want to focus on rural area for which Gemini Communications has been awarded the contract. The company will cover 16 talukas of Gujarat under its WiMax service," said a BSNL official.

Gemini Communications is expected to begin its service within a month. "Very soon, both the companies - Soma Networks and Gemini Communications - will cover the whole state with wireless high speed internet," he said.

Pointered Telecom, the product subsidiary of Gemini Communication, has also secured an order from BSNL under which it would supply, implement and maintain the rural mobile WiMax in seven circles. Apart from Gujarat, the company would also provide its service in rural areas of six other states -Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

BSNL's rural WiMax project aims at providing connectivity to 25,000 villages through common service centres across the country to bridge the digital divide. After Gemini got the order, its scrip climbed by 8.67% and closed at Rs14.17 per share on BSE.

DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication