French telecom equipment manufacturer Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) plans to set up its second manufacturing unit in India by mid-2010. The unit will manufacture base station antennas to meet the domestic demand.
RFS India managing director Kuldeep Tikoo said, ?The growing demand in India coupled with business sensitive, gives way for another manufacturing unit in India rather than starting it in China.?
Designer and manufacturer of cable, antenna and tower systems, the company plans to support other locations through this unit.
At present, the company manufactures base station antennas in China which caters global requirements.
In India, RFS has a manufacturing unit for microwave antenna in Kolkata with a capacity of manufacturing 1,00,000 antennas at any point in time. It also has manufacturing units based out of US, Europe, China and Latin America.
About the Indian market Tikoo said, ?India is gearing up to become a telecom manufacturing hub with the growing demand and flexibility coming from government.?
Rival Andrew Corporation has a manufacturing unit in Goa for radio frequency cable products and antennas and Argus Telecom has a unit in Madhurai.
The industry needs almost another 1,50,000 sites in the coming three to five years to support the growing subscriber base. Each site is expected to have at least three base stations driving the demand for telecom equipment manufacturers.
?We expect the overall demand for telecom equipment in India to grow 25-30% post 3G auctions. 3G implementation will push the telecom operators to do more of site optimisation and this will be driving demand,? he adds.