Chinese vendor Huawei is in “advanced talks” with Indian mobile operator Bharti over a contract to supply and maintain equipment to its African assets, a Huawei spokesperson has told Dow Jones.
Bharti, which paid some US$10.7bn for 15 African units…
Chinese vendor Huawei is in “advanced talks” with Indian mobile operator Bharti over a contract to supply and maintain equipment to its African assets, a Huawei spokesperson has told Dow Jones.
Bharti, which paid some US$10.7bn for 15 African units belonging to Kuwait-based Zain earlier this year, signed an in-principle technology outsourcing contract with IBM.
Bharti has also expressed an interest in pursuing an infrastructure sharing agreement among its African operations, with Western and Indian towers companies expressing interest in participating. That said, there are concerns that finding a pan-African tower sharing solution could be complex because of contrasting regulatory environments and infrastructure quality.
Bharti chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has been quoted saying that he hopes to raise subscriber numbers on the continent from the current 40 million to 100 million over the next two years. The company has said it plans to spend some US$800m on Africa this fiscal year, which ends 31 March.
