Nokia in talks with Bharti Airtel for multi-billion dollar 5G contract

FINLAND’S Nokia is in talks with Bharti Airtel about securing a multi-billion dollar contract to provide 5G telecom equipment for the Indian mobile operator which is expanding its network, three sources familiar with the matter said.

India is the world’s second-largest smartphone market where companies such as Airtel, Reliance’s Jio and Vodafone Idea have been spending billions of dollars to upgrade their networks to 5G.

Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson already won a multi-billion dollar contract from Bharti Airtel, Reuters reported on Monday.

India last year had helped Nokia and Ericsson offset weakness in demand from US customers. However, the volume of orders from India slowed down significantly after a growth spurt last year.

Nokia, whose shares were up as much as 3 per cent on the contract report, will release third-quarter earnings on Thursday (Oct 17). In the second quarter, Nokia reported an 18 per cent drop in net sales, mainly because of a slowdown in demand in India.

The deal with Airtel would be for Nokia’s latest AirScale mobile radios that support upgrading an existing network to 5G-Advanced and reduces energy costs, according to the sources.

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Nokia declined to comment. Bharti Airtel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One of the sources called the potential Nokia deal a “routine and ongoing arrangement” with network vendor partners.

Nokia last month got part of a US$3.6 billion contract from Vodafone Idea that it shared with Ericsson and Samsung.

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Alongside Nokia and Ericsson, Airtel is also in talks with Samsung about buying 5G equipment, another source said.

Samsung has been trying to grow its network equipment business, but has so far lagged Nokia and Ericsson. Samsung won its first 5G contract with Airtel in 2022. India has blocked its mobile carriers from using 5G telecom equipment made by China’s Huawei.

Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS