Vodafone Idea (Vi) is reportedly in talks with Nokia for the 4G network business. Vi currently uses Huawei’s telecom gear in the country, but according to sources quoted in a Reuters report on Friday, the Indian telecom player is looking to swap its partner.
The report says, according to the deal, Nokia will be entrusted to put up 12000 5G-ready radio sites and 4,000 small cells for Vi in Delhi. The decision to go with Nokia will allow Vi to operate and manage its 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G from the same platform, and the deployment could start from next month, as per the sources quoted by Reuters.
This move comes as another jolt to Huawei and its business in India. The Chinese telecom giant has been slowly marginalised from the country’s telecom sector.
The Indian government has raised security concerns over Huawei’s operations in the country, forcing the telecom industry to rejig its ecosystem and reduce its dependence on Huawei for telecom gear. For its part, Huawei has denied those allegations, but its business has been severely hampered, even though the company has not been officially banned in the country.
Huawei was also not allowed to take part in the 5G trials in India, another move to encourage other companies to build the network for the country. The likes of Nokia and Ericsson have greatly benefited from Huawei’s lack of involvement in the Indian telecom sector, and Vi is simply following every other telecom player operating in the country.
India is expected to conduct the 5G spectrum auctions in the second half of 2022 as highlighted by the country’s government.
Huawei has been instrumental in the growth of the global telecom sector, but over the years, the telecom giant has been sidelined in other parts of the world.
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