Samsung denies reports of building network equipment plant in India

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday denied media reports that the company is pushing to build a network equipment plant in India, saying that nothing has been determined at this point.

Foreign media recently reported that Samsung is looking to build the facility in Uttar Pradesh, east of New Delhi, to manufacture 4G and 5G network equipment, according to the South Korean News Agency (Yonhap).

They added that the South Korean tech giant applied for the Indian government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to get tax benefits.

The reports said Samsung's new plant apparently aims to supply network equipment to Reliance Jio, India's largest telecom firm, and clients in other countries amid growing demand for 5G networks.

Samsung previously inked a 4G network gear supply deal with Reliance Jio.

However, Samsung said such reports are not true. "We are reviewing it, but nothing has been confirmed," the company said. 

Samsung currently produces network equipment in South Korea and Vietnam.

The reports came out amid Samsung's push to expand its presence in the 5G network equipment market.

The company recently signed deals with Japan's top mobile network operator NTT Docomo, as well as Canada's SaskTel and New Zealand's Spark to supply 5G solutions.

According to GSMA Intelligence, the research unit of the global organization for telecom operators, the network industry is projected to invest US$11 trillion between 2020 and 2025 for the mobile infrastructure, with 80 per cent of it going to 5G networks.

Samsung was the world's fifth-largest vendor of 5G network equipment in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a market share of 7.1 per cent, according to market researcher Dell'Oro, trailing behind Huawei with 31.4 per cent, Ericsson with 28.9 per cent, Nokia with 18.5 per cent and ZTE with 10.9 per cent.