Samsung is in talks with Indian carriers to additionally supply its fourth-generation (4G) telecom equipment because the country is close to finalizing an auction for frequencies for 4G services, a senior Samsung executive said Wednesday.
The auction may offer more business opportunities for the Korean company in India.
"We are trying hard to supply additional telecommunication equipment to India," said Kim Young-ki, president of Samsung's network business division.
Kim talked about the deal to reporters while participating in a weekly meeting of presidents of Samsung's affiliates at its headquarters in Seocho-dong in southern Seoul.
Samsung believes that demand for telecom equipment will surge on the back of faster wireless networks driven by explosive growth in data-intensive mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets.
The Indian government is selling 900 megahertz (MHz) and 1,800MHz frequencies to help shrink its budget deficit and to expand the country's 4G network.
As more base stations are needed for the 1,800MHz frequency, Samsung should grab this huge business opportunity, said officials.
Samsung said major Indian cities such as Delhi and Kolkata will start LTE services because the Indian government is pushing ahead to construct nationwide LTE networks. Among major Indian cities, Mumbai is using the 1,800MHz band.
Like China, India is also using LTE-TDD technology, a variant of LTE that has advantages in terms of price.
Samsung aims to generate 5 trillion won in the network business by the end of this year from 3.5 trillion won last year, said Samsung sources.
Samsung is cutting its reliance on the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, which is volatile and cyclical, by shifting its focus toward corporate clients.
Samsung failed to show impressive results concerning network businesses as the market is currently being dominated by major players such as Huawei Technologies, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent.
"Samsung needs good references as one of the trusted suppliers in telecom equipment before making inroads to other markets. That's why we are trying hard to win additional orders in India," said an Samsung official.
Last year, Reliance Jio Infocomm of India signed a deal with Samsung to procure base station infrastructure for its 4G rollout, according to reports.
The deal was estimated to be worth around $1.2 billion, with the Korean company supplying 70,000 stations across India.