State-owned MTNL has called for expressions of interest from international technology companies or their Indian arms for a franchise agreement to vend its 3G mobile services.

The agreement, which will be on a revenue-sharing basis, will sign on the franchisee for 10 years, with the deal being reviewable after the end of the three initial years.

For a company to apply for the franchise deal, it should not be a licensed telecom service provider in Delhi or Mumbai and should not take on such licenses in Delhi or Mumbai during the term of the contract.

These companies will have to ascertain revenue of 300 million rupees ($6.1 million) each for the two circles, Delhi and Mumbai, in the first year. And for the second and third years, the revenue has to be between Rs. 1.20 billion and Rs. 2.40 billion, for Delhi and Mumbai respectively.

In addition to having experiences in offering similar services to a total of 1 million 3G customers in at least two countries with a turnover of $30 million in the past two years, the companies also ought to have the capability to attract and retain customers, create sales and distribution networks to uphold the MTNL brand or create the franchisee''s own branding, among other services, said the company.

In the first year of the agreement, MTNL will guarantee 100,000-subscriber 3G capacity each in the Delhi and Mumbai telecom service areas, followed with 300,000 and 500,000 users for each of the two cities in the second and third year respectively.

Once the deal is clinched, the 3G franchisee are expected to establish the system within three months of inking of the deal in Delhi and Mumbai independently.