Coronavirus fallout: Telecom equipment makers equipped to meet local demand

New Delhi: European telecom equipment makers Ericsson and Nokia are producing mostly spare parts for wireless and wireline networks at their factories in Pune and Chennai to ensure that telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea can operate continuously during the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown.

Chinese rivals Huawei and ZTE said they have sufficient inventory of critical spare parts to support local demand for six to 10 months, company executives told ET.

“We are producing telecom equipment for orders that we already have from our customers. For repair as well as normal production for domestic requirements… we have enough inventory,” an Ericsson spokesperson told ET.

Nokia’s Chennai facility is operational with reduced manpower after approvals from the authorities, people from the company said.

Huawei is working with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to ensure the smooth running of telecom networks in India, the company said in a statement to ET.

Queries sent to Nokia and ZTE were unanswered.

A ZTE executive said it maintains a good level of inventory of critical equipment for partner networks in India.