Nokia eyes major 5G contract with Bharti Airtel: Nokia, a Finnish telecom giant is reportedly in discussions with Bharti Airtel to secure a multi-billion-dollar contract for providing 5G telecom equipment to the Indian mobile operator/. As per the three sources who are familiar with the matter, this new deal will come as Bharti Airtel continues to expand its 5G network across the country.
Ericsson already bagged a multi-billion dollar deal
The discussions with Nokia come after Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson won a similar multi-billion dollar contract with Bharti Airtel earlier. As per a recent report by Reuters, competitors of Airtel- like Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Reliance Jio have already invested heavily to upgrade their networks in the country, and it is the world’s second-largest smartphone market.
Nokia's latest AirScale mobile radio technology for Airtel
Sources have revealed that the potential deal would involve Nokia’s latest AirScale mobile radios, which support upgrading existing networks to 5G-Advanced while helping to reduce energy consumption.
This would be a critical move as telecom companies will look for energy-efficient solutions along with boosting network capacity.
By the time of writing, the deal deal is said to be under the development phase. However one of the sources will describe the discussions as a “routine and ongoing arrangement” between network vendor partners.
Nokia has not yet commented on the matter and Bharti Airtel has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Nokia's sales decline in India
Nokia reported an 18 per cent drop in net sales during the second quarter, which is largely due to a slowdown in demand in India after a growth surge last year. Despite the slowdown, securing this deal with Airtel could provide a much-needed boost for Nokia in the region.
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