Telcos in India to skip Chinese gear makers for 5G trials

After Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) named European and American equipment makers as preferred partners for 5G trials, Vodafone Idea (VI) has done the same. So, it looks like the Chinese companies — Huawei and ZTE are out of the race, revealed an ET report.

The companies were asked to respond to the fresh Department of Telecommunications (DoT) demand for a set of ‘priority vendors’ for 5G trials.

Jio has named Samsung, Nokia, and Ericsson besides applying to trial its own technology.

Bharti Airtel has opted for Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson. Other than Nokia and Ericsson, Vodafone Idea has also opted for US-based Mavenir. Meanwhile, state-run BSNL plans to partner the state-run Centre for Development of Telematics (CDoT).

While the Indian government has not officially banned the use of 5G equipment for trial, these decisions by the telco players have put to rest government concerns. Already, it has become tougher for Chinese companies to take part in any government contracts. It is heard that the Indian government, which has already banned around 224 Chinese applications in the country, is not officially barring Chinese vendors from participating. However, it has unofficially told state-run telcos to stop sourcing gear from them.

“Jio has submitted an application to trial its own 5G technology in south Mumbai and Navi Mumbai areas, while it intends to do trials with Samsung in other areas like Bandra Kurla complex, and Kamothe and Solapur in Maharashtra,” said an official. Freepress Journal