Ciena’s photonic technology is expected to enhance user experiences on Bharti Airtel’s impending 5G network
India’s Bharti Airtel announced that it deployed Ciena’s 600G and 800G photonic technology in several cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata to increase fiber optic network capacity to enhance user experiences on the operator’s impending 5G network. According to Airtel, the result will be almost triple the optical fiber network capacity.
Airtel has implemented a self-optimizing network design using C&L-band infrastructure with Layer 0 control plane with Ciena’s 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS). Further, Ciena’s Liquid Spectrum PinPoint OTDR software analytics will allow the operator to localize, troubleshoot and repair fiber faults.
“Airtel was the country’s first telco to demonstrate live 5G service over a commercial network,” commented Randeep Sekhon, Bharti Airtel’s CTO. “As we work to deploy 5G more widely, Ciena plays an integral role in providing an agile network foundation to satisfy our customers’ dynamic requirements.
This past January, Bharti Airtel demonstrated its Non-Standalone live 5G service in the city of Hyderabad over its existing spectrum in the 1.8 GHz band. Airtel used Ericsson spectrum sharing, allowing the carrier to operate 5G and 4G connections from within the same spectrum block.
“We believe India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation,” commented Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel in January, adding that the entire ecosystem must “come together” to make it happen and that the company is “ready to do [its] bit.”
In a press release, Ciena’s VP and GM Ryan Perera said: “The future of data consumption across India is at the edge — in homes, trains, hospitals, automobiles, factories and many other mission-critical environments. By investing in its metro network with Ciena’s industry-leading technology, Airtel is ideally positioned to support the booming digital economy.”
