“We need to forecast longer and create the demand and put the demand in the right time for the future, so that we are able to anticipate better and plan better to avoid any disruption. Now, we are looking at three to five years. Before, we used to look at, at least, one and a half years or 18 months to 36 months... to ensure just in time deliveries for our customers,” he said.
Bansal, who is also the head of networks, Southeast Asia, Oceania and India, told Business Standard that the cause of the change was more to do with supply of components affecting verticals across industries, rather than solely the West Asian conflict, which has disrupted supply chains for other sectors.
“We follow a very resilient supply chain, we have alternate suppliers, and we also work with better forecasts, but yes, when it comes to concurrence, that is something that is a challenge at this point in time, no disruption, but definitely a challenge,” Bansal said. However, production at the firm's India manufacturing unit has not been disrupted so far, he added.
Ericsson is among the oldest companies to have set up a telecom equipment production base in the country, back in 1994. The Swedish telecom gear maker manufactures 5G radios, RAN compute, advanced passive antennas, and microwave products in partnership with global manufacturer Jabil Inc’s facility in Pune.
The company -- which has production bases in China, Mexico and Romania -- expanded the passive antenna production in India through partnership with Indian company VVDN Technologies last year, which will also cater to export markets.
Ericsson, which also provides 5G slicing technology to global carriers, backed the need for Indian carriers to use the tech for monetisation opportunities, after telcos spent billions into acquiring spectrum and building out the networks.
“We have been talking on the subject across all our customers. So, we say upgrade to standalone (SA). Two, we say go towards slicing and differentiated connectivity, because we are the strongest from a technology and end-to-end delivery perspective, and differentiated connectivity services,” Bansal said.
In India, Bharti Airtel is the first player to adopt 5G slicing on SA for postpaid customers, enabling creation of fast lanes for superior performance and delivery of services.
Globally, telcos have been using the technology at premium pricing. For instance, in Singapore, Singtel has partnered with Ericsson to offer higher speeds for customers attending sports events or concerts, for a subscription over and above a customer’s monthly bill.
“When it comes to enterprises, we have seen 5G slicing for mission critical services for private networks. Going forward, we will see examples of (adoption in) industry and enterprises as well,” the MD said.
He also highlighted the use of digital-twin technology based on slicing and artificial intelligence (AI), for knowledge transfer between countries in an ongoing project between Volvo group’s factory, and its research and development facilities in Bengaluru.
 "Nitin Bansal, MD, India & Head-Networks, South East Asia, Oceania and India, Ericsson")