Bharti Airtel to reportedly reinvest in 4G gear from Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung

Bharti Airtel is issuing orders worth around $1 billion to Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung for 4G network equipment over the next three years. Through these new contracts, Airtel intends to accelerate the transition of its feature phone users to smartphones and enhance revenue per user.

Sunil Mittal, is also in discussions with global suppliers regarding the procurement of more 5G network equipment. But the focus at present remains on the expansion of 4G network coverage throughout the country, as per a news report.

The report quoted a source as saying, “Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung will meet around 50 per cent, 45 percent and 5 percent of Airtel’s near-300,000 additional 4G base station requirements, respectively, over a three-year span.”

It is expected that Airtel will pay all the three vendors through letters of credit. Provided by the banks, the letters of credit will act as a guarantee that Airtel’s future payments to the vendors will be made on time and for the agreed-upon amount.

The report quoted industry insiders as saying that Sweden’s Ericsson is likely to supply 4G base stations for 11 circles, including Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh-West, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Northeast, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Meanwhile, Finland’s Nokia may provide 4G base stations for nine circles — Mumbai, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, UP-East, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Kerala — and South Korea’s Samsung for the remaining two, Kolkata and Punjab.

This journey of Airtel to expand 4G network is in line with its goal to strengthen mobile broadband coverage in five key circles — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and West Bengal. The 4G presence in these areas are currently limited.

Simultaneously, the telco aims to enhance 4G coverage in non-census towns and villages across India, as it works to swiftly transition its remaining 95 million 2G users to 4G, the report said.