India's Reliance Jio Infocomm finalized contracts with Ericsson and Nokia to supply equipment for its 5G standalone (SA) network buildout.

Ericsson is providing radio access network (RAN) and E-band microwave mobile transport equipment. The deal is the vendor's first with Jio for RAN deployment in the country.

The partnership with Nokia will bring in multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antennas and remote radio heads (RRH) to support spectrum bands and organize network software, according to Nokia’s announcement.

The contracts follow the Indian government’s recently concluded 5G spectrum auction, where Jio acquired nationwide coverage in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz bands, and other licenses in the 800 MHz and 1.8 GHz bands.

With Jio joining the list of gained market share, the international partnerships reflect a larger technological push for modernizing network infrastructure in India. Jio Chairman Akash Ambani touted the operator “transformed the digital landscape in India with the launch of LTE services in 2016."

"We are confident that Jio’s 5G network will accelerate India’s digitalization and will serve as the foundation for achieving our nation’s ‘Digital India’ vision," he added.

The deals echo a similar arrangement between the two nordic vendors and India's Bharti Airtel announced in August. That deal also included Samsung.

Analysts noted these deals have also not included Chinese vendors, signaling a significant shift for the India service provider market.

“The reality is that the Indian market, where there used to be Chinese vendors, they will be out of business so that’s the reason why you see Nokia doing quite well with the first deal and Ericsson doing quite well with the deal,” John Strand, CEO at Strand Consult, explained to SDxCentral regarding Bharti Airtel’s announcement. “They used to use Huawei but they are basically out of it. It looks like the Western vendors have gained market share at Bharti Airtel.”