Nokia is set to ink a $1.7 billion deal this week to supply 5G equipment to Reliance Jio Infocomm, according to sources cited by the Economic Times.
The deal could be signed as early as Thursday in Helsinki where Nokia is headquartered, the report mentioned. Neither Jio nor Nokia commented on the development.
Previously in October last year, Jio had chosen Nokia as a major supplier as it geared up to expand wireless services in India. Jio spent $11 billion in a 5G spectrum auction last August and launched 5G services in select cities. It is also working with Google to launch an affordable 5G smartphone.
The Economic Times reported that HSBC, JP Morgan and Citigroup are among lenders backing Jio's 5G-related purchases, while Finnvera, a Finnish agency, will be issuing loan guarantees.
In October last year, Ericsson had announced a partnership with Jio to build a standalone 5G network in India.
Earlier this week, Jio launched a 4G feature phone aimed at those yet to migrate to smartphones but analysts said it was unlikely to disrupt the Indian telecom market significantly.
Shares of Reliance Industries, which has the highest weightage on the Nifty 50 index, climbed as much as 2.3% on the report to become one of the index's top gainers.
