New Delhi: After Nokia, Swedish multinational networking and telecom major Ericsson on Wednesday bagged a multi-year and multi-billion-dollar deal of 4G and 5G extension from Bharti Airtel for India operations. It is expected that these new agreements will also enable Airtel to launch a 5G-standalone architecture (SA) network, which will support its fixed wireless access broadband service in the country, an industry source said.
This move aligns with Airtel’s strategy to bolster its 4G and 5G infrastructure and upgrade feature phone users in critical regions, amid fierce competition from telco giants like Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea. Vodafone Idea is expanding its 4G services and preparing for a 5G rollout by March. “With the said deal, Airtel is likely to finalise renewals totalling worth over $1.2 billion with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung, alongside placing orders for new 4G and 5G equipment,” the source said.
Informing to the stock exchanges, Bharti Airtel said that it awarded Ericsson a multi-year, multi-billion extension deal for 4 G and 5 G products and solutions, similar to the one announced earlier last month with Finland’s Nokia. As per the new contract, Ericsson will deploy centralised radio access network or RAN and Open RAN-ready solutions for network transformation, which will help customers with wider coverage and enhanced capacity on the network.
Similar to their previous agreement signed in August 2022, Ericsson and Nokia are expected to meet around 50 percent and 45 percent of Bharti Airtel’s fresh 4G and 5G equipment network needs, respectively. “As part of the partnership, Ericsson will deploy its latest technology for Airtel’s network. This deployment will enable us to further improve the speed, reliability, and coverage of our network,” said Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel.
It has been observed that European vendors Nokia and Ericsson have experienced a significant drop in sales since the last quarter of 2023, primarily due to reduced spending on 5G. However, they are optimistic with the fresh new deal they have secured from Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
“The partnership extension reflects ‘shared vision to build a robust 4G and 5G infrastructure’ for Bharti Airtel and the deal will include new 5G use cases as they emerge. With all these put together, India will see steady 5G growth,” said Andres Vicente, head of Ericsson South-east Asia, Oceania and India.
