Indian company Reliance Jio Infocomm is expected to sign a $1.7 billion (about 14,016 crore rupees) deal with Nokia this week to buy 5G network equipment, the Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing with the Matter familiar people.
The deal could be signed as early as Thursday in Helsinki, Finland, where Nokia is headquartered, the report said. Jio and Nokia did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Reliance Industries’ telecom arm secured $11 billion (about 90,600 crore) in radio waves in a 5G spectrum auction last August and launched 5G Services in several cities. It also works with alphabet Google to launch an affordable 5G smartphone.
The Economic Times said HSBC, JP Morgan and Citigroup are among those backing Jio’s 5G-related purchases, while European export credit agency Finnvera will issue guarantees to lenders for offshore lending to Jio.
Swedish telecommunications company ericsson announced a partnership with Jio to build a standalone 5G network in India last October.
Earlier this week, Jio announced the launch of a 4G-enabled phone to reach those who haven’t yet switched to smartphones, although analysts said the move is unlikely to disrupt the Indian telecoms market. Back in August last year, Jio popped up as the largest bidder in India’s US$19 billion (about Rs.1.5 million) 5G spectrum auction, with the leading telecom operator winning US$11 billion (about Rs.87,000 million) worth of radio waves.
In December 2022, Counterpoint Research called that India’s 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 4G shipments by the end of 2023, driven by the mass deployment of the high-speed network and the surge in sales of handsets in the lower price brackets.
5G data speeds in India are expected to be around 10 times faster than 4G, with the network seen as crucial for emerging technologies such as self-driving cars and artificial intelligence.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
