Ericsson says it is scaling up production capacity and operations with its partner, manufacturing company Jabil, in Pune, a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, to meet the needs of 5G network deployments in India.
Ericsson manufactures a variety of equipment with Jabil that includes 4G and 5G radios and RAN Compute as well as microwave products.
The production ramp-up will expand operations with high-technology production and is expected to generate employment for around 2,000 people in Pune.
Ericsson India is also establishing a technology centre. This, the company says, will focus on new product introduction and production engineering to secure high-quality standards, testing and integration, and will supply preparations on early-phase products, as well as operational support to ensure efficient 5G development and deployment in India.
Ericsson’s ultra-lightweight, massive MIMO antenna integrated radios AIR 3219 and AIR 3268 will be produced there initially to support the 5G deployments. Ericsson will also work with local ecosystem partners to support its 5G production in India.
Commercial launches of 5G networks are under way in the country; deployments commenced following spectrum auctions in July. Bharti Airtel and Jio, two of India's leading operators, have selected Ericsson as their partner to deploy 5G networks in the country.
Ericsson cites its own November 2022 Mobility Report to underline the promise of this market, where, it says, 5G subscriptions are expected to rapidly increase to reach around 690 million by the end of 2028.
