HFCL highlighted that the market for 5G equipment remains strong in India

Indian telecoms vendor HFCL has won a purchaseof INR 6.23 billion ($75 million) for the supply of indigenously manufactured 5G network equipment, local paper The Economic Times reported.

“This is the first such largefor 5G networking equipment placed on any Indian company by any telecom service provider,” HFCL said.

The name of the customer was not revealed by HFCL.

“With India being at the forefront of 5G rollout and technological evolution, HFCL remains steadfast on the path of innovation and progress. Our recentwins are clearly a testament that our strategy of moving from projects to margin accretive products, launching new products, reaching out to new customers and new geographies is paying off well and will bolster our position even further in 2024,” said Mahendra Nahata, Managing Director of HFCL.

HFCL also highlighted that the market for 5G equipment remains strong in India. The company recently signed a deal worth INR 11.2 billion with state operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to upgrade its optical transport network (OTN) across India.

The vendor noted that the deal covers design, planning of architecture, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning and system integration of OTN equipment. The upgrade project will cover over 300 large network nodes and 2,000 amplifier sites across the country, HFCL said.

The deal also includes a comprehensive eight-year annual maintenance contract worth INR 1.7 billion.

Mahendra Nahata, said that the resulting upgrade will boost BSNL’s data capacity to 12 Tbps, which the telco needs to meet expected demand over the next ten years.

“Our comprehensive network upgrade will not only address the heightened demands of enterprise and FTTH/Broadband services but strategically positions BSNL for the seamless launch of 4G services and the anticipation of 5G services,” Nahata said.

HFCL also said it will also partner with Finnish vendor Nokia to deploy the OTN gear over the next 18 months.

Local carriers Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel have already launched 5G technology in thousands of cities across India. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea had previously confirmed “advanced talks” with a number of vendorsdefine its final strategy for the deployment of 5G in India.