China's Huawei likely to handle Bharti Airtel’s 4G network rollouts in Delhi and Mumbai

18 Mar 2013 Evaluate

Bharti Airtel, leading integrated telecommunications company, is likely to rope in China's Huawei to handle 4G network rollouts in the country's biggest data markets of Delhi and Mumbai. This move is in line with the company’s plans of widening its 4G footprint to 8 telecom zones after it acquired 49% in Qualcomm's wireless broadband entities in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala for Rs 924 crore.

The possibility of Huawei supplying gear for expansion of Airtel’s 4G footprint is estimated to be higher as the Chinese vendor has already supplied 4G networks and devices like dongles and customer premise equipment (CPE) to Airtel in Bangalore.

Further, the initial cost of rolling out 4G networks in both metros is estimated to be at $150 million (Rs 810 crore approximately), given that Huawei may initially supply 6,000-odd base stations (BTSs) for the first wave of Airtel's high-speed wireless data services rollouts in Delhi and Mumbai, at the market price of $25,000 or Rs 13.5 lakh per base station.

Till date, Bharti has launched 4G services only in Bangalore, Kolkata and Pune and has reportedly some 40,000-odd customers.  The company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa has added 2.43 million users in February, 2013, increasing its total customer base to 186.62 million with a market share of 28.47%.

Bharti Airtel Share Price

2092.05 -16.60 (-0.79%)
18-Dec-2025 16:59 View Price Chart
Peers
Company Name CMP
Bharti Airtel 2092.05
Vodafone Idea 11.31
Indus Towers 408.65
Tata Communications 1789.55
Bharti Hexacom Ltd. 1757.30
View more..
Register Now to get our Free Newsletter & much more!

© 2025 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×