Under the deal, Ericsson is also deploying packet core technology for the Sunil Mittal- led telecom operator in the circle. With this, Huawei’s Airtel footprint has lowered to just 3 telecom circles, similar to ZTE’s footprint in India.
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has replaced China’s Huawei with Swedish gear maker Ericsson for 4G network expansion and modernisation in the Rajasthan circle, with the deal including deployment of voice over LTE (VoLTE) services, said a person familiar with the matter.
Under the deal, Ericsson is also deploying packet core technology for the Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator in the circle. With this, Huawei is now working for Bharti Airtel in three telecom circles, as is China’s ZTE Corporation.
“Ericsson has started modernising the hardware with 4G and 5G capable equipment. The entire LTE that Huawei had deployed is now being swapped by Ericsson,” said the person, who did not wish to be identified. “In addition, Ericsson is now deploying VoLTE for Airtel in Rajasthan.”
This is among the first deals for Ericsson in India for VoLTE calling and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) technology. Nokia has been the sole provider of VoLTE technology so far to Reliance Jio Infocomm and Vodafone Idea, as well as Bharti Airtel in a majority of circles.
The deal value could not be ascertained. Bharti Airtel, Huawei and Ericsson did not respond to ET’s queries.
The development comes at a time when Huawei has been under pressure globally, mainly from the United States, for its alleged proximity to the Chinese government, leading to concerns over possible snooping. The US is also pressuring other countries, including India, to keep the Chinese gear maker out of 5G deployments. India, though, has yet to take a call.
Bharti Airtel has in the past publicly backed Huawei’s equipment, saying its 3G and 4G products were better than those of its European rivals Ericsson and Nokia.
According to a second person, the latest development resulted from a dispute over pricing of 4G equipment. “Ericsson, which already had a good 2G footprint, has gotten aggressive with its pricing and bagged the deal and reclaimed the circle, replacing Huawei,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Interestingly, Huawei had managed to expand its footprint in India due to its attractive pricing and relatively relaxed payment terms. That was why debt-laden Vodafone Idea had stepped up 4G gear purchase and given a network integration deal to Huawei late last year.
Huawei is currently providing gear to Vodafone Idea in seven circles – its largest footprint in India with any telco. Recently it also won new wireline contracts from Vodafone Idea, along with Nokia and ZTE.
Ericsson, on the other hand, has been Bharti Airtel’s managed service partner since 2004 and currently manages the telco’s pan-India 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, intelligent network and LAN/WAN.
Earlier this year, the two companies extended their partnership with an artificial intelligence and automation deal. They are also expanding their co-creation partnership to industrialise artificial intelligence use cases after completing proof of concept trials.
