Huawei Lebanon
wins telecom contract

Work to start late August

The Ministry of Telecom announced Huawei Lebanon has won the bid to replace time-division-multiplexing (TDM) switches installed in 1994 with the new advanced telephony IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS). The value of the winning bid is $12 million.

IMS is an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services.

The project is meant to add 200,000 phone landlines that the market needs. The present bid is the first of a three-phase process that is necessary to achieve the project and relates to the network central cabinets. The results of the bids for the two additional phases will be announced later this month.

Imad Kreidieh, General Manager of Ogero Telecom said contracts will be signed next week. He estimates work will commence late August.

The initial bid saw 11 companies apply. According to Kreidieh, one was disqualified. Nine companies reached the second stage of the bid.

Sweden's Ericson ($36 million), Finland's Nokia ($18 million), and the winning bid, China's Huawei ($12 million) reached the final stages.

“The bid was awarded on technical performance and financial evaluation,” Kreidieh said.

The ministry also announced that it has devoted a hotline, 1775, to receive any complaints from subscribers.