As part of the 5G FWA deal, Airtel will also roll out Nokia’s Wi-Fi 6 access points
Indian operator Bharti Airtel has awarded a contract to Nokia and Qualcomm to support the expansion of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and Wi-Fi solutions across India, the former said in a release.
Under the terms of this agreement, Nokia will supply Airtel with its 5G FWA outdoor gateway receiver and Wi-Fi 6 Access Point, leveraging Qualcomm Modem-RF and Wi-Fi 6 chipsets. The adoption of fixed wireless broadband via 5G networks is emerging as a key use case, particularly in India, where fiber penetration remains low and the demand for digital services continues to surge.
Airtel will deploy Nokia’s FastMile 5G outdoor receivers, designed to serve multiple households simultaneously, reducing connection costs. These receivers feature high-gain antennas to extend broadband coverage over long distances while optimizing radio resources. Additionally, the FastMile 5G outdoor receiver integrates Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) technology, enabling flexible installation on walls, balconies or poles.
As part of the deal, Airtel will also roll out Nokia’s Wi-Fi 6 access points, which offer intelligent mesh networking and self-optimizing capabilities, Airtel said.
Airtel also highlighted that Nokia’s 5G FWA and Wi-Fi 6 devices will be manufactured in India.
Sandy Motley, president of fixed networks at Nokia, said: “India’s vast size and population density presents unique challenges for broadband connectivity. In those communities where fiber is difficult to deploy, FWA can be used to provide reliable wireless broadband connectivity. With our 5G FWA and Wi-Fi 6 solutions built in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Bharti Airtel will be able to provide customers with fiber-like speeds which are becoming essential in today’s digital economy.”
In November 2024, Nokia had secured a multi-year extension deal from Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities and states
Under the terms of this previous 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.
In October, Swedish vendor Ericsson said it had secured a new 5G contract for selling 5G equipment from Bharti Airtel.
Airtel is currently using equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to provide 5G services.
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.
