Indian telecommunications operator Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm Technologies announced a collaboration for accelerating 5G development in India.
Recently, Airtel became India’s first telco to demonstrate 5G over a live commercial network in the city of Hyderabad.
Through Airtel’s network vendors and device partners, Airtel will utilize the Qualcomm 5G RAN platforms to rollout virtualized and Open RAN-based 5G networks.
Airtel, as a board member of the O-RAN Alliance, said it is committed to driving the success of O-RAN and is working with Qualcomm Technologies to explore and implement the O-RAN approach for India.
The partners highlighted that the flexible and scalable architecture of O-RAN will create new opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to become viable players in the deployment of 5G networks.
In addition, the two companies said they will collaborate to enable a wide array of use cases, including 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).
Randeep Sekhon, CTO at Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel has been a pioneer of new technologies and our networks are fully ready for 5G. We are delighted to have Qualcomm Technologies as a key technology provider in our journey to roll-out world-class 5G in India. With Airtel’s integrated service portfolio and Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G leadership, we will be well placed to usher India into the next era of hyper-fast and ultra-low latency digital connectivity.”
“There is a compelling case to accelerate the roll-out of 5G networks in India, as it will help fast-track the country’s socio-economic growth and development. We are pleased to be working with Airtel, and we are excited by the opportunity ahead. This collaboration is expected to play a critical role in Airtel’s plans to add 5G network coverage and capacity where and when it is needed the most,” said Rajen Vagadia, President at Qualcomm India.
Qualcomm said that its 5G FWA platform supports virtually any combination of 5G spectrum bands and modes, from extended-range high power sub-6 to extended-range mmWave. Through Airtel’s network vendors and device partners, Airtel will utilize the capabilities of these platforms for accelerating the development of 5G applications for Industry 4.0 use cases.
The Indian government expects to launch a spectrum auction that will include the sale of almost 8,300 megahertz of airwaves, including 5G spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band and 4G spectrum in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands.
The auction was initially expected to take place in 2020, but the government decided to postpone the process due to the poor financial health of the industry and worries that the reserve price was too high to attract interest.
The government recently confirmed that it will award 4G spectrum next month, with local operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, and Reliance Jio Infocomm taking part in the process. This upcoming spectrum process will not include 5G frequencies.
