Telecom gear maker Mavenir slashes jobs in India in global recast and missed 4G/5G contracts

Following the layoffs, several Mavenir India employees have turned to LinkedIn in search of new opportunities, particularly in 4G, 5G, and OpenRAN roles.

Struggling US-based telecom gear maker Mavenir is cutting hundreds of jobs in its radio access network (RAN) division—many of them in India—after failing to secure commercial contracts from Indian telecom operators.

The layoffs are part of a broader global restructuring effort to align with shifting market dynamics and optimising operations. Sources told Moneycontrol that the job cuts are primarily affecting employees in the radio and RAN engineering departments, mirroring similar reductions seen in the US.

The layoffs are second largest in India's telecom vendor market in the last 12-15 months, following a similar reduction of 250–300 jobs by Finnish rival Nokia during its 2024 global restructuring.

“The layoffs started in December this year and are still ongoing, impacting hundreds of employees. While most of the impacted employees are asked to leave, some were asked to move to other businesses, including packet core,” a source familiar with the matter told Moneycontrol.

Another impacted employee confirmed the cuts in India are part of Mavenir’s global restructuring exercise.

Following the layoffs, several Mavenir India employees have turned to LinkedIn in search of new opportunities, particularly in 4G, 5G, and OpenRAN roles.

While the company didn’t directly address the job cuts in India, a spokesperson said, “...today we continue to invest and work closely with our customers, adjusting, as necessary, our business requirements to match market demand.”

The spokesperson added that Mavenir has made a significant investment in its RAN business and, over the past four years, has accelerated market growth, offering more choice to the global telecom industry.

Mavenir’s 2024 corporate responsibility report showed that the company employed over 4,500 employees and contractors, a majority of them based in India. However, in February, CEO Pardeep Kohli revealed that the number had dropped to 4,000, citing layoffs in the OpenRAN segment globally. Sources indicate the figure has since declined further, with layoffs continuing into April, triggered by the departure of John Baker, the SVP of Business Development and an industry veteran, in December.

Mavenir had been eyeing a major breakthrough in India through 4G and 5G OpenRAN deals with Vodafone Idea and even conducted commercial trials across multiple telecom circles. However, the telco ultimately chose established vendors, awarding $3.6 billion worth of contracts to Nokia and Ericsson, while also onboarding Samsung as a new supplier.

Jagbir Singh, CTO of Vodafone Idea, told Moneycontrol, “OpenRAN is still a technology which has not matured to the level of technology provided by traditional vendors like Nokia and Ericsson. From a total cost of ownership, vRAN is much better than any ORAN vendor.”