Domestic telecom gear manufacturer HFCL Limited is planning to expand the recently setup system integration unit on its company and make it into a full-fledged unit for value-added system integration business. The full-fledged unit will be more geared towards 5G where HFCL will start with different components of 5G.
The company will puruse two opportunities in 5G. The first one is the product that is part of HFCL’s ongoing business with new products set to be added in the 5G radio equipment portfolio consisting of macro cells and small cells which are currently in designing phase.
HFCL separately will focus on the system integration for 5G division set up in the company recently. The system integration for 5G may have equipment being supplied by HFCL or equipment being supplied by other network vendors.
“There are two opportunities we are going to pursue in 5G. One is the product of course which s our ongoing business and new products are going to be added to the 5G radio equipment which is macro cells and small cells, both, which are under design right now. Second, we have opened up a new division in the Company this time, system integration for 5G, which includes not turnkey projects, equipment may be supplied by us, equipment may be supplied by Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, whoever,” said HFCL MD Mahendra Nahata.
Open RAN (O-RAN) involves different equipment coming from different suppliers with the service providers able to buy core from somebody, radio network from somebody else, and second part of radio from somebody else.
“Right now, as you would have heard, the time has come from open RAN but we call open RAN means different equipment would come from different suppliers.
The projects won’t be turnkey projects but a high value system integration with equipment being supplied by us or by somebody else.
“So what we have done is the system integration unit in our Company just pretty recently and we are going to expand that and make it a full-fledged unit for value-added system integration business more geared towards 5G where we have to start with different components of 5G.
So it would not be turnkey projects as such but it would be high value system integration, then equipment could be supplied by us or somebody else. And, of course, the product business as I mentioned, would include switches, it will include front all gateways, routers, it will include small cells, macro cells, and all those kinds of things,” added Mahendra Nahata.
