4G Call: Huawei Secures 3 Year Contract From Bharti Airtel
4G Call: Huawei Secures 3 Year Contract From Bharti Airtel
Noted China based telecom gear company Huawei has gotten a 3 year contract from India’s top telecom company Bharti Airtel for supply of base stations and other important equipment for the 4G network in Karnataka plus Tamil Nadu circles.
3 Year Contract for 4G Network
Bharti Airtel’s 4G network will now involve the use of technology by Huawei. The CEO of Huawei India, Cai Liquin has been quoted as saying that "We just got the deal from Bharti Airtel's high-speed data services on the 1800 MHz band using the FDD-LTE technology for their two of biggest telecom circles in the country” by ET.
The size of the deal has not been disclosed. This 3 year deal for the 4G network is only the second of its kind in India launching services using FDD-LTE technology that employs a 1800 MHz band.
Bharti’s 4G Services Already in 15 Indian Cities
Bharti Airtel already has 4G Services in 15 cities across the nation based on TDD-LTE technology. Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex or LTE-TDD technology is oriented towards providing 4G services. This technology uses the 2300 Mhz band. Huawei has been working with the telco for their TDD-LTE technology based 4G networks in Delhi and Karnataka circles since the last few years. Bharti Airtel has a 2300 Mhz frequently in a total of 8 circles in India.
Bharti Airtel Goes FDD-LTE
Bharti Airtel in February won airwaves in the 1800 MHz band in 15 circles such as Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. It has also selected Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson for 4G services in the two circles on FDD-LTE which is more widely accepted as against TDD-LTE.
Bharti Airtel is now to launch 4G services through the FDD-LTE technology in a total of 4 circles and "In coming three years, Huawei would roll out big numbers for Airtel. The initial trials have already been started,” Huawei India’s CEO has said.
Huawei Rapidly Expanding in India
Huawei is a Chinese company with headquarters in Shenzen. This telecom equipment company has a revenue of USD 800 million in 2013 from India and is expected to reach USD 1 billion at the end of this year. Its networks business will generate half of its 2017 revenue target of USD 2 billion according to ET.
"Our business, compared with past two years, is much better. The market is about to pick up, given operators' plans to invest in 4G networks," Cai was quoted by ET as saying. Vodafone and Idea Cellular have also laid the foundations for the FDD-LTE based 4G services in coming years, Reliance Jio having committed to starting the 4G services in early 2015.
Huawei has increased the focus on device businesses as well and the company is discussing with Reliance Jio to provide 4D dongle and data cards. It is currently catering to telcos in the 3G, 4G and CDMA segments.
Conclusion
4G or fourth generation communication technology is becoming a very useful in a variety of settings. While 3G only offers voice services, 4G goes beyond this and offers mobile broadband connectivity as well. Huawei is cornering a market share which has massive potential for growth. The future of this Chinese company in India is bright.
