Nokia to roll out 5G network in 2nd half of 2022 if auction happens in time

Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia says that while a pan-India 5G networks will roll out between 2023 and 2025, a initial network in few areas could be available as early as the second half of 2022, if spectrum auctions take place as planned by June-July this year.
 
The telecom gear makers said that based on global research India would have 350-400 million 5G customers by 2025-26.  That is significant as it accounts for one third of the country’s current mobile subscriber base, and nearly half of the total broadband mobile subscribers, most of whom use 4G services.
 
The Finnish company, which has a major “make in India” strategy, expects most of its 5G radios as well as over 50 per cent of its telecom equipment to be made in its Chennai factory. These are eligible for the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom products.

 

Explaining the global telecom gears play in India, Sanjay Malik, head of India region, Nokia, says, “Nearly all our 4G radios are made in India, so we have planned the same trend for 5G radios too. And just like in 4G, we will continue to export half of the 5G radios as well. While I would not like to put a number, much more than 50 per cent of the equipment will be made in India.”
 
Malik adds that Nokia earns over $1 billion every year in foreign exchange from exports to the US and countries in Europe and the Asia Pacific.

 
Nokia has already exceeded its investment commitment under the PLI scheme for the first year of the programme (20 per cent of the total target committed in four years). It is also working on manufacturing new products —- fixed network OLT and IP optics — at its Chennai plant.
 
Malik says that the company is ready to roll out the 5G network provided the spectrum auction is completed. Nokia has already started manufacturing 5G radios, and their delivery centres in Noida and Chennai are already integrating 5G networks globally and also remotely managing them.
 
Nokia, which supplies telecom equipment to all the four telcos in the country, is the largest player in the business in India. According to the company, 40-50 per cent of all data in the country flows through its networks and so does one-third of all voice calls and as much as 95 per cent of VoLTE calls (voice calls made over the 4G LTE network). It also has more than 60 per cent of the fibre-to-the home business.

 
 Responding to the buzz on the adoption of the open-radio-access network technology (O-RAN) globally as well as in India, Malik says, “Nokia is committed to O-RAN and we are part of all the standardisation bodies on O-RAN. However, O-RAN technology has still not matured, and it will take some years before it can get into the mass scale level”.
 
Most operators across the world are, in fact, still rolling out established networks.
 
On competition from Indian companies like Reliance and the Tata-backed Tejas Networks, which are building indigenous 5G technology, Malik says: “We want local players to develop the technology. But Nokia spends Euro 3 billion on research and development to upgrade technology.  So we have to be realistic about how much time and money is required to develop them continuously to get to a stage of maturity.”