India’s push away from China for 5G to benefit Ericsson, Nokia
Samsung will get limited benefits, however
India’s three major carriers are moving away from using telecom equipment from Huawei and ZTE from the rising tension between India and China.
The void caused by the absence of these Chinese companies will likely benefit Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia more than it does Samsung Electronics, people in the network equipment industry in South Korea told TheElec.
India’s biggest telco, Reliance Jio, has recently turned in its request to test 5G networks to the government there, according to the Economic Times. The carrier will use Samsung’s kit for the tests __ a move widely expected as the South Korean tech giant provided the equipment for the telco’s 4G LTE network.
The telco also said it will use its own 5G technology for testing in its request. This is likely referring to its own software that will be used with Samsung’s kit, people knowledgeable on the matter said. However, the exact nature of the technology is described is unclear, they said.
Reliance Industry Chairman Mukesh Ambani last month said the company has made a 5G solution using 100% local technology. He said the firm could use All Internet Protocol Architecture to upgrade its 4G network into 5G. Ambani also said the telco plans to export the 5G solution after it is commercialized in India.
Meanwhile, India’s second largest telco Bharti Airtel has turned in request the government to test with Ericsson and Nokia’s kits in areas it initially planned to use Huawei and ZTE goods for, according to the report from Times.
Kolkata where Huawei’s goods were suppose to be used will use Nokia’s and Ericsson will replace ZTE in Bengaluru, the report said.
India’s third largest telco, Vodafone Idea, is not removing Chinese-made equipment for its network, the report said. It will use Nokia’s at Gandhi Ngar but will use Huawei and ZTE’s kit at NCR and Patna, respectively.
While Samsung Network was focused on providing its 5G kit for Reliance Jio, its benefit from the removable of China’s goods in India networks will be limited due to rivals Ericsson and Nokia also eyeing the vacuum, the people said.