Airtel is believed to have already placed advance purchase orders (POs) for the first lot of base stations-primarily 4G with some 5G variants-and deliveries are likely to start very shortly, multiple people aware of the matter said. Some 5G gear will be selectively acquired in Airtel circles that see faster migration of 4G traffic to 5G, going forward, they added.
“Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung will meet around 50%, 45% and 5% of Airtel’s fresh radio network needs as per the equipment supply renewal terms,” one of the people cited said.
A top Airtel source termed the development as “routine and ongoing arrangements with its global network vendor partners”.
ET had reported on September 18 that Airtel is poised to award contracts to buy 4G radio network equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung in addition to 5G network gear. The immediate objective is to accelerate the shift of Airtel’s remaining feature phone users to smartphones and shore up user revenues.
Airtel’s moves come with rival Vodafone Idea recently signing equipment deals to expand its own 4G network and also gradually roll out 5G services in a bid to stem subscriber losses to Airtel and Reliance Jio.Senior industry executives familiar with Airtel’s radio network equipment supply renewals said Sweden’s Ericsson will supply the base stations in Rajasthan, Delhi, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, AP, TN/Chennai, Northeast and Assam circles.Finland’s Nokia will supply Airtel the equipment in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, UP-East and Kerala. South Korea’s Samsung will meet Airtel’s 4G/5G base station needs in Kolkata and Punjab only.
Ericsson declined to offer comment while ET’s queries to Nokia and Samsung went unanswered at press time.
Industry insiders aware of the developments said the telco plans to increase its overall 4G towers count to around 420,000 by FY27 from a little over 324,000 in Q1FY25. Going forward, 5G base station additions will be need-based and the telco will refarm 4G airwaves in both the 2100/2300 MHz bands once 5G adoption levels pick up and more Airtel 4G users go 5G.
