Ericsson has high hopes from Smart Cities, Digital India initiatives

Ericsson eyes Smart cities project to account for 20 percent of the group’s overall business in India.

"We are setting up a new unit 'Industry and Society' that will focus on Digital India, smart cities, public safety, utilities and transport segments. We are looking for a fifth of our business to come from our Industry and Society vertical by 2020," Ericsson India V-P and head of Engagement Practices Nishant Batra told.

The government has clubbed all its digital programmes under Digital India with an estimated Rs 1.13 lakh crore projects initially. It has also approved a plan for building 100 smart cities in India with an outlay of Rs 48,000 crore.

"With the government becoming a significant buyer, there is a massive opportunity for the industry. This is something the telecom sector in India is seeing for the first time. We are seeing a lot of interest in utilities and public safety from different state governments," Batra said.

Ericsson has registered its highest-ever sales growth of 81 per cent in India during the three months to September, driven by higher investments in mobile broadband service.

"Ericsson is uniquely positioned to bring the right mix of technologies and delivery models to industries. Over 40 per cent of the world's mobile traffic passed through our network equipment. We have been doing this around the globe and we are leveraging the same in India," Ericsson Industry and Society Head Orvar Hurtig said.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)