Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel Reach Out to Samsung for 4G and 5G Equipment After USA-Huawei Fiasco

Two major telecom operators of India, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel are in exploratory talks with the Korean telecom equipment manufacturer, Samsung, as Huawei’s future seems to be surrounded with uncertainty, reported an ET Telecom report. Notably, Huawei has been in trouble lately and has been banned in the USA. A person familiar with the strategies of the two companies said that the two telecom operators don’t want to be stuck with only two vendors – Ericsson and Nokia and since there is uncertainty surrounding Huawei’s fate, going into talks with Samsung seems like the right approach.

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Divide in DoT Regarding Involvement of Huawei

Another person aware of the matter said that Samsung is already starting to get feelers for 4G and 5G technology from telcos in India. The source said, “There are feelers on 5G. But, there are many steps required, including trials in India since commercial deployment has some time to start in the country. Even on 4G, Samsung is getting feelers from the two telcos.”

It is worth noting that both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel operate in a multi-vendor market and Vodafone Idea’s exposure to the Chinese vendors has increased after it awarded Huawei the contract for deploying 4G equipment in seven circles. Even Bharti Airtel uses Huawei’s equipment in a few circles, whereas Samsung is the vendor which only operates with Reliance Jio in the country. There is also the question of whether or not Huawei will be allowed to participate in the 5G trials in the country and then later on in the 5G commercial launch. New Telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad said last week, “There are security issues…it is not only a matter of technology, where their participation in 5G is concerned.”