Huawei awarded BTCL's 5G readiness project

Following numerous complications, speculations and uncertainties, the 5G readiness project of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) has successfully come to fruition.

The state-owned telecom firm awarded the contract to the lowest bidder Huawei that quoted a price Tk137 crore less than the government's approved cost, according to BTCL officials.

On 13 November, the BTCL board of directors approved the proposal to award the project to Huawei and on 19 November the BTCL signed the equipment supply agreement with Huawei at its head office in the capital.

The 5G readiness initiative, aimed at launching 5G in the country, costs Tk1,059 crore, receiving approval from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in February 2022.

The project budget includes an estimated equipment purchase cost of Tk463 crore. The procurement tender invited in August 2022 was opened in December that year.

Chinese Huawei, ZTE and Finnish Nokia along with their respective local partner firms bid at Tk326 crore, Tk415 crore and Tk579 crore respectively.

However, there had been a quarter to disrupt the tender process and the lowest bidder fought them at the government's Central Procurement Technical Unit and also in the Supreme Court before its recent victory.

Huawei Bangladesh's Account Responsible Moinul Hasan said in a statement, "Huawei is committed to work with the government to build a smart Bangladesh. We have been working with the Bangladesh government for 25 years.

"We will provide advanced technologies used globally in the 5G Readiness Project to implement the government's vision of 2041."

He also condemned "the persistent attempts by one party to delay the project, including calls for new tenders to safeguard their interests".

"Huawei secured the job following comprehensive evaluations by entities such as the Technical Evaluation Committee and the Board of Directors of BTCL," he added.