India has emerged as one of Ericsson's most important global markets, both in terms of scale and technology adoption, CEO Börje Ekholm said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on November 20.
Ericsson employs nearly 25,000 people in India, making it one of the company’s largest employment hubs globally. "India is critically important for us," Ekholm said in an interview with Moneycontrol.
This marks a small increase in Ericsson's India headcount. Earlier in an interview with Moneycontrol, Ekholm had said that the company had over 22,500 staff in the country.
He noted that India’s telecom market has undergone a sharp transformation in recent years.
"A few years ago, India was a generation behind. Today, it's a generation at the forefront," he said.
Ekholm attributed the progress to rapid growth in data traffic and digital services built on strong mobile networks.
India now ranks among the highest globally in data consumption per subscriber, a trend Ekholm said continues to accelerate.
He also contrasted India's market structure with Europe's. While India has three major telecom operators, Europe has hundreds across fragmented markets.
"It’s very hard for European operators to get scale," Ekholm said, arguing that healthier regulation and scale are essential for operator profitability.
Earlier Ekholm had batted for a stronger Vodafone Idea, saying that the company, if it became financially stronger will become a more competitive player in the Indian telecom market.
For Ericsson, India’s combination of scale, traffic growth and market structure positions it as a key driver of future network demand.
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