Indian operators have been forced to demand the lifting of 5G restrictions on Huawei ZTE

Operator Finance Kang Zhao/Wen

According to Light Reading, Indian telecom operators have sent a letter to the country's ministry of telecommunications urging them to lift the restrictions on suppliers in 5G trials, According to Light Reading. But it is not known when this letter was sent, because India has excluded Huawei and ZTE from the list of 5G test vendors. However, Indian operators seem to be reluctant.

This shows that Indian operators are still working hard to procure Huawei and ZTE equipment. It is reported that the above letter was sent through the Indian Mobile Operators Association (COAI), and Indian operators have always hoped that Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE can participate in 5G trials. Removing vendor-based restrictions will make this possible.

India's three major operators have diverged. In India, Vodafone has the highest market share (33.36%); Reliance Jio's overall market share rose to 27.8%, surpassing Barty Telecom (27.58%) to become the second largest telecom operator in India.

Vodafone has begun negotiations to purchase 5G equipment for the Indian market, including Ericsson and Nokia, but Vodafone executives said they were not sure whether Chinese communications equipment suppliers Huawei and ZTE could get permission. To put it bluntly, Vodafone still wants to use Huawei and ZTE equipment.

However, Reliance Jio has decided to take Samsung's 5G devices in a big way, and Reliance Jio once had a good relationship with Huawei.

Huawei and ZTE seem to be difficult to break through in India. In May 2021, India's Ministry of Communications announced that it would allow global telecom equipment manufacturers such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to participate in 5G trials in India, but the list did not include Chinese companies.

To some extent, India may prefer not to build 5G, rather than let Huawei and ZTE undertake to build 5G networks.

(Editor-in-Charge: Han Li)