Airtel is a board member of the O-RAN Alliance and has begun 5G trials in major Indian cities
Indian communications provider Bharti Airtel and Tata Group have announced a strategic partnership to implement a 5G network in India. Per the agreement, Airtel will pilot Tata Group’s O-RAN-based radio and NSA/SA core beginning in January 2022 as part a larger push to utilize solutions and products that are made in India.
“We are delighted to join forces with the Tata Group to make India a global hub for 5G and allied technologies,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel. “With its world-class technology ecosystem and talent pool, India is well positioned to build cutting edge solutions and applications for the world. This will also provide a massive boost to India becoming an innovation and manufacturing destination.”
Tata Group’s 5G solution, according to company, has integrated an “indigenous” telecom stack. These “Made in India” solutions and products, as Tata Group referred to them, are aligned to global standards and interoperate with other products based on standard open interfaces and those defined by the O-RAN Alliance.
Airtel is a board member of the O-RAN Alliance and has begun 5G trials in major Indian cities using spectrum allocated by the Department of Telecom. Earlier this year, the provider demonstrated 5G over its existing spectrum in the 1.8 GHz band in the city of Hyderabad. Airtel used 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,” Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel, said at the time of the trial announcement, adding that the entire ecosystem must “come together” to make it happen.
“We are more than ready to do our bit,” Vittal said.
