Ericsson (ERIC, Financial), the Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, has secured a new multi-billion-dollar 5G equipment sales contract from India's Bharti Airtel. This comes after Ericsson recently received a $3.6 billion contract to supply 5G equipment to Vodafone Idea in India, sharing the deal with Nokia and Samsung.
These contracts are expected to boost Ericsson's revenue next year. In the first half of this year, the company's contracts in India saw a significant decline. Specifically, sales in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India dropped by 44% in the second quarter. Ericsson is set to announce its third-quarter earnings results soon.
According to a source, most of the deployment for the new contracts may take place next year. The demand in India's 5G market has surged since 2023, with sales in the region growing fivefold as Airtel and Jio, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, expanded their 5G services. This demand is partially offsetting the slowdown in Ericsson's primary market in the United States, where telecom operators have been reducing their spending.
