Finnish vendor Nokia said it has secured a multi-year extension deal from Indian operator Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities and states
Under the terms of the new deal, Nokia will deploy equipment from its 5G AirScale portfolio including base stations, baseband units and the latest generation of Massive MIMO radios, all powered by its ReefShark System-on-Chip technology.
The European vendor noted that these solutions will enhance Airtel’s network with additional 5G capacity and coverage. Furthermore, Nokia will modernize Airtel’s existing 4G network with multiband radios and baseband equipment, which can also support 5G.
Airtel will also be leveraging Nokia’s MantaRay Network Management for intelligent network monitoring and management that uses AI-based tools covering digital deployment, optimization and technical support, the vendor added.
Gopal Vittal, vice chairman and managing director at Bharti Airtel, said: “This strategic partnership with Nokia will future proof our network infrastructure and provide customers with unparalleled user experience along with a network that will be eco-friendly to minimize environmental impact.”
“This strategic agreement further solidifies our long-standing collaboration with Airtel and our footprint in India. Our AirScale portfolio and AI-based services will enhance the energy efficiency of Airtel’s network, enabling premium 5G capacity and connectivity,” said Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO of Nokia.
Nokia and Airtel had previously launched the so-called ‘Green 5G Initiative’, aimed at improving the energy efficiency of Airtel’s network and reducing carbon emissions.
Last month, Ericsson had secured a new 5G contract for selling 5G equipment from Bharti Airtel.
The new contract comes after Ericsson got part of a $3.6 billion contract for selling 5G equipment to India’s Vodafone Idea.
Airtel is currently using equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to provide 5G services.
Bharti Airtel ended its first fiscal quarter of 2025 on June 30, with a total of 90 million 5G subscribers, the telco’s managing director, Gopal Vittal, said during a previous conference call with investors.
The executive noted that the company had ended the previous fiscal quarter with 72 million customers in the 5G field.
The executive highlighted that Bharti Airtel is expecting to launch Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) via 5G Standalone (5G SA) architecture. “We are planning to go live with SA technology for FWA within [fiscal] Q2. It should be noted that our core, transport and radio networks are all SA-ready,” Vittal added.
Bharti Airtel previously confirmed that it has started re-farming its existing mid-band spectrum with the main aim of accommodating the growing traffic demand on its 5G network. To accommodate the growing number of customers migrating to its 5G network, Airtel said it is in the process of re-farming its mid-band spectrum to expand 5G services on its 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz and 2.3 GHz bands across India.
The Indian operator had secured a total of 19,800 megahertz of spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands in a previous auction carried out by the Indian government in July 2022. In June, the telco secured additional spectrum to expand its 5G offering.
