Nokia strikes ‘multi-billion’ dollar deal with Bharti Airtel

Finnish telecom equipment supplier Nokia on Wednesday said it had won a “multi-billion” dollar deal with Bharti Airtel for delivery of 4G and 5G equipment.

Sources familiar with the talks told Reuters last month Nokia and Bharti were nearing a deal worth several billion dollars to expand Bharti’s network in India.

Nokia’s Swedish rival Ericsson had already won a deal of similar size with Bharti earlier in October.

India last year helped Nokia and Ericsson offset weakness in demand from US customers. However, the volume of orders from India slowed down significantly after a growth spurt last year.

Nokia’s share price rose 3.1 per cent by 0829 GMT.