Samsung lands first 5G equipment deal in India

Industry

Published: 04 Aug. 2022, 14:22

Samsung lands first 5G equipment deal in India

Samsung Electronics inked a 5G network deal with India’s Bharti Airtel, also known as Airtel, its first 5G equipment deal in India.

New Delhi-based Airtel said Wednesday it signed an agreement with Samsung Electronics, Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia for the 5G network. While Ericsson and Nokia have worked with Airtel previously, Samsung Electronics has not.

The combined value of the deals is estimated at $2.5 billion, with Samsung Electronics claiming about 10 percent, according to a Thursday report in India's Economic Times.

Airtel is the world’s fourth biggest telecom by number of users — 490 million subscribers worldwide — and the second largest in India following Reliance Jio.

Samsung Electronics has been working with Reliance Jio since 2016 on its 4G LTE network.

Airtel said it will start service on the 5G network in August. Samsung will sell radio units and other equipment for the company's 5G network deployment, as well as optimization and maintenance services.

“As a global leader in 5G, Samsung is excited to embark on this 5G journey with Airtel to deliver innovative solutions that will help advance India’s entrepreneurial spirit and open up a new paradigm for the country,” said Cheun Kyung-whoon, president of Samsung Electronics' network business.

“Samsung will be a key partner for us in this journey as we strive to deliver the best-in-class 5G experience to our customers,” said Gopal Vittal, Airtel CEO.

In May, Samsung landed a 1-trillion-won ($762 million) 5G network equipment deal with DISH Wireless, a U.S. company.

The global telecom equipment market was worth some $100 billion in 2021, up 7 percent year on year, according to market researcher Mobile Experts. Stockholm-based Ericsson, the industry frontrunner, claimed 26.9 percent market share, followed by Nokia's 21.9 percent share. Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE took up 20.4 percent and 14.5 percent each, while Samsung Electronics came fifth with 8 percent.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]