NEW DELHI: Chinese telecom gear vendor ZTE
said that its India revenue will marginally increase for the 2018
calendar year despite the recent US ban which impacted its operations
globally, including India for almost a quarter earlier this year.
The revenue will be driven by recent orders from state-run Bharat Sanchar Nagar Limited (BSNL) and Airtel, a top executive said.
“India market holds a very important position in ZTE's overseas business. This year, we had challenges, but even that didn't impact the India business much. We quickly recovered, and our business has come to normal,” ZTE India CEO Peng Aiguang, told ET.
The Chinese vendor, that competes with the likes of Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia, suffered some losses because it was not able to perform service operations during the denial order in the country.
“Our
business with all telcos keep growing, and our total revenue in ZTE
India is growing. However, there still is a room for further growth,” he
added.
The executive said that the vendor didn’t lay off any executive during the US-ban period in India, even as other vendors have laid off employees due to consolidation in the market, especially after the Vodafone-Idea merger, and sector-wide financial stress.
“We are keeping investments in India. The most important investment is on employees. There were no job cuts and salary cuts. The company stood behind the people,” he said.
ZTE said that it will hire 50 engineers for its new technology centre in India, and plans to hire more people of its business grows in the market.
The Chinese telecom gear vendor has already started discussions with telecom operators, including Airtel and BSNL. “We are deliberating on investing 5G field trial in India in line with the government. Telcos are very much interested. Our target is to have field trial up and running in 2019. Lab trials are already taking place,” he added.
ZTE is currently providing equipment for BSNL’s 4G and 3G networks expansion in the North-East zone, and Bharti Airtel’s network expansion in select circles.
Aiguang said that ZTE is not just providing radio for 4G and 3G networks, but is also providing core, IP and Transmission, billing and FTTx technology. It is also providing Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology to BSNL.
“20-30% business for ZTE in India comes from non-radio. With 5G coming into the picture, fiber will become very imperative, and that will lead to the need for technologies like GPON,” he added.
The vendor also has some presence in the MSO space, where it provides its GPON technology for broadband to Hathway and GTPL. Previously, it provided its technology for Telangana government’s fiber project.
“We are also looking to participate in smart city projects in India,” the executive said.
The revenue will be driven by recent orders from state-run Bharat Sanchar Nagar Limited (BSNL) and Airtel, a top executive said.
“India market holds a very important position in ZTE's overseas business. This year, we had challenges, but even that didn't impact the India business much. We quickly recovered, and our business has come to normal,” ZTE India CEO Peng Aiguang, told ET.
The Chinese vendor, that competes with the likes of Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia, suffered some losses because it was not able to perform service operations during the denial order in the country.
The executive said that the vendor didn’t lay off any executive during the US-ban period in India, even as other vendors have laid off employees due to consolidation in the market, especially after the Vodafone-Idea merger, and sector-wide financial stress.
“We are keeping investments in India. The most important investment is on employees. There were no job cuts and salary cuts. The company stood behind the people,” he said.
ZTE said that it will hire 50 engineers for its new technology centre in India, and plans to hire more people of its business grows in the market.
The Chinese telecom gear vendor has already started discussions with telecom operators, including Airtel and BSNL. “We are deliberating on investing 5G field trial in India in line with the government. Telcos are very much interested. Our target is to have field trial up and running in 2019. Lab trials are already taking place,” he added.
ZTE is currently providing equipment for BSNL’s 4G and 3G networks expansion in the North-East zone, and Bharti Airtel’s network expansion in select circles.
Aiguang said that ZTE is not just providing radio for 4G and 3G networks, but is also providing core, IP and Transmission, billing and FTTx technology. It is also providing Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology to BSNL.
“20-30% business for ZTE in India comes from non-radio. With 5G coming into the picture, fiber will become very imperative, and that will lead to the need for technologies like GPON,” he added.
The vendor also has some presence in the MSO space, where it provides its GPON technology for broadband to Hathway and GTPL. Previously, it provided its technology for Telangana government’s fiber project.
“We are also looking to participate in smart city projects in India,” the executive said.
