HFCL expects 70% revenue in fibre optic, 50% in telecom gear from exports in 3 years

Domestic telecom gear maker HFCL expects 70 percent of its revenue in fibre optic segment and half of the network equipment business will start flowing into the company from exports in the next three years, a top company official said on Wednesday.

HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata told PTI that the company is now seeing a surge in demand for 5G gears after telecom operators have installed 5G mobile towers across the country.

Apart from optic fibre cable, HFCL provides peripheral telecom equipment that connects with base stations to enhance coverage.

"In telecom, we have two types of products, telecom equipment and optical fibre. Our plan for fibre optic cable is in three years' time, 70 percent of our revenue should come from exports. In telecom equipment, in three years, around 50 percent of revenue will come from exports," Nahata said.

He said the company is already exporting fibre optic cables to 40 countries and has recently started exports of telecom equipment as well.

"Major growth drivers for us are going to be new generations of telecom equipment which we are designing in our R&D centre in Bengaluru," Nahata said.

HFCL had posted around a 46 percent jump in its consolidated revenue to ₹110.65 crore in the first quarter ended June 2024.

The company had closed the financial year 2023-24 with a revenue of over ₹4,465 crore.

Nahata said the company is also bullish on 6G technology and has already filed around 15 patents.

"I believe India is going to play a key role in shaping up 6G technology. The meeting of the global standard body, WTSA, in India reflects that our country will play an important role in setting up standards for 6G," he said.

India is hosting the International Telecommunication Union's World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) for the first time. The WTSA conference is held after a gap of four years. The recommendations and proposals approved at WTSA set the direction for the development of communication technologies.

Nahata said HFCL has indigenously designed a number of 5G equipment and now started selling them overseas as well.

"We have also designed equipment for 5G fixed wireless access, which is commonly called Air Fibre, indigenously. We have started supplying these equipment to telcos in India and we are going to export them as well," Nahata said.