Nokia sales crossed Rs 9,500 cr in India in Q2 on the back of 5G rollout: Sanjay Malik

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Nokia posted ₹9,500 crore of revenue in India during the April-June period, boosted by the 5G rollouts. Sanjay Malik, head of the India market, tells Danish Khan that the 5G-led growth in India is happening faster than in some developed markets. The company is supporting Vodafone Idea's existing 4G operations and is awaiting the telco's funding, which is taking longer than what Nokia had expected, he says.

Edited excerpts:How important was India's contribution to Nokia's overall Q2 results? We reported over 1 billion, or about ₹9,500 crore, in one quarter, which is the highest for any vendor in a single quarter since 1994-95. The growth was on the back of 5G deployment and transport rollouts. Our strategy of growing beyond radio is working.Whatever India 5G rollout on the radio-side that will happen by the end of the year will be bigger than that in many developed countries as a similar rollout there would have taken two to three years.

5G as a percentage will reach 45% of all 4G sites installed by the year-end. The year-over-year growth will continue, but not at the same pace, in the coming quarters.Is Vodafone Idea's financial situation a worry? We are still engaging with Vodafone Idea on their current network. We are managing that network and keeping that up to the mark from a quality perspective.

We have been in discussions with them on 4G growth and 5G. They have been engaging with banks and investors for their funding, which is definitely required. Yes, the progress has been slower than we anticipated.In the last two years, ZTE and Huawei have managed to get non-radio network business from telcos. Does that bother Nokia? We are a trusted partner with all approvals and products.