ECI has announced its optical network deal with Indian telecom operator Idea Cellular to support demand for bandwidth and mobile data.
Idea Cellular will procure ECI’s access DWDM solution for more than half of the operators’ telecom network in India.
Last week, Idea Cellular said it is expanding its wireless broadband coverage and capacity, with focus on 4G services.
“We will be able to enhance capacity and meet the ever-growing demand for data with the new solution. ECI has supported us in rolling out 3G and 4G networks with optimum solutions,” said Anil Tandan, chief technology officer of Idea Cellular.
Idea Cellular has added over 33,500 wireless broadband sites during the first nine months of the financial year 2017-18. Idea Cellular said the current ~ 143,500 broadband sites now cover ~ 620 million Indian population (~52 percent of population). Idea is also moving fast to launch its VoLTE services during calendar year 2018.
ECI competes with Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, among others in the Indian telecom network market.
A recent report from Research and Markets does not list ECI Telecom as the key technology vendor in the global optical transport network equipment market.
The report said Ciena, Cisco, Coriant, Fujitsu, Huawei Technologies, Infinera, Nokia and ZTE are dominating the global optical transport network equipment market.
This is the first deal for ECI India in the year 2018. Israel-based ECI does not reveal the financial details of the optical network contract with Idea Cellular, the third largest telecom operator in India in terms of subscriber base.
The ECI solution will ensure maximum utilization of Idea Cellular’s existing telecom infrastructure, while creating a future-proof solution that already accounts for additional upgrades. This will help Idea Cellular meet the evolving demand across the market.
Idea Cellular is not aggressive in India in terms of its Capex (capital expenditure) plans as compared with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio. Idea Cellular is in the process of merging its mobile business with Vodafone to become the largest telecom operator in terms of revenue market share in India.
Sajeet Shivashankaran, president of ECI India, said: “Our products and solutions, including the access DWDM platform, provide the necessary flexibility to expand and grow with the changing needs of our customers.”
ECI is a global provider of network solutions to CSPs, critical infrastructures as well as data center operators. ECI offers SDN/NFV applications, network management, a cybersecurity solution, and a range of professional services.
Research and Markets says that the global optical transport network equipment market will grow at a CAGR of 21.68 percent during the period 2017-2021.
Ciena, Cisco Systems, Coriant, Fujitsu, Huawei Technologies, Infinera, Nokia, ZTE, ADTRAN, ADVA Optical Networking, Juniper Networks, ECI Telecom, Ericsson and NEC Technologies are some of the optical transport network equipment makers.
Baburajan K
