Two top telecom network vendors Ericsson and Nokia Networks have reported significant revenue increase in India during the third quarter of 2014.
While Nokia Networks said it is seeing momentum in the Indian telecom market in the third quarter, its rival Ericsson said its Q3 2014 revenues surged 56 percent year-on-year and 22 percent quarterly to SEK 2 billion.
Telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, etc. are ramping up their networks. They are focusing on both improvement in network quality to meet data demands of mobile subscribers and geographical expansion. The main focus area is 3G networks.
Ericsson India said SEK 1.1 billion revenue came from networks, SEK 0.7 billion from Global Services and 0.2 billion from Support Solutions in the third quarter.
According to Ericsson, sales in India have recovered, mainly driven by an increase in operator Capex spending in response to greater data uptake.
Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said: “We are executing on 4G / LTE contracts in Mainland China and Taiwan and improving sales in Japan. Furthermore, the investment climate in India continues to improve. Sales in parts of Europe, mainly UK and Germany, showed growth while the development in southern Europe continued to be weak.”
Telecom network vendor Ericsson, announcing the global result, said its third quarter 2014 revenue rose 9 percent to SEK 57.6 billion or $7.94 billion, while operating income dipped 7 percent to SEK 3.9 billion or $537 million.
Rajeev Suri, president and CEO of Nokia Networks, said: “In Asia Pacific, we saw momentum in Korea and India. There will be new auctions in spectrum in India in February next year and we’re seeing some of the regulatory headwind sort of go away with the new government in place. That’s kind of broadly the color I give you but not being specific on Q4.”
North America
While North America offered tough times to Ericsson, Nokia Networks said North America was up 53 percent year-on-year and 50 percent sequentially. Nokia Networks observed recovery in European telecom markets which grew 9 percent year-on-year and 15 percent sequentially and showed robust deal momentum.
China
Nokia Networks, which posted 13 percent increase in revenue to EUR 2.9 billion fuelled by LTE, said Greater China had a strong quarter with excellent sales growth, as well as the absence of cost incurred in anticipation of a technology shift to TD LTE related to major projects.
Ericsson said it’s executing on 4G/LTE contracts in Mainland China and Taiwan and improving sales in Japan. For Ericsson, China is the second largest telecom market after the United States. While the U.S. contributes 24 percent (28 percent) sales to total revenue, China’s contribution is 6 percent (5 percent).
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
