Nokia to collaborate with Airtel on 5G and IoT

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecommunications services provider, and Nokia have agreed to create a strategic roadmap for network evolution to the 5G technology standard and management of connected devices.

Under a new agreement, Airtel and Nokia will collaborate to drive the definition and development of these new services with a focus on taking the path to 5G network connectivity. This effort will build on 4G in the most efficient way in terms of power, operations, and cost effectiveness, and with the highest level of quality and reliability.

Airtel and Nokia will leverage Nokia's 5G FIRST end-to-end 5G solution including AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data center platform to demonstrate 5G capabilities and simulate use cases of 5G extreme broadband and ultra-reliability and low latency communication. 

Airtel and Nokia will further leverage combined expertise for building a solid business case using: Collaborative workshops to define a phased strategy for network evolution and transformation and the implications on business, technology, and operations; and 5G spectrum assessment to optimize spectrum resources to deliver the capacity needed to realize their 5G goals. 

Abhay Savargaonkar, director - Network Services (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, "Airtel has always been a pioneer in rolling out the latest technologies to deliver a superior experience to its customers. 5G and IoT applications have tremendous potential to transform lives and we are pleased to partner with Nokia to enable these future technologies for our customers."

Sanjay Malik, head, Nokia India said, "We will leverage our global experience in 5G-related industry projects and collaborations to enable Bharti Airtel to prepare their networks for greater capacity, coverage and speed."