www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 93 million line GSM tender has been put on hold by BSNL, Indian state-owned operator, after finding itself under scrutiny by government investigators. Until the investigations of all allegations of irregularities in the tender process are completed, no order will be placed by the telco.

Huawei which was one of just two equipment suppliers selected for the project was dumped from the tender process after post-bidding negotiations stalled. Amid allegations that BSNL has broken CVC rules, fresh probe has been launched by the Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) on the company.

BSNL accepted that they have already renegotiated with Ericsson and the talks could result into 20-25% reduction in price and savings of up to $1 billion. However, an emergency meeting has been planned by India’s Prime Minister’s Office to discuss BSNL’s poor performance. The company is running in loss since two years and has lost its position of second largest operators of India and has slipped to the fifth position.

First delay in the order occurred after disqualified bidder NSN attempted to get the tender blocked by the courts. Second hindrance was caused by the objections of the security agencies citing concerns over Huawei’s possible ties with the Chinese government.