Bharti Airtel and Ericsson have announced a new collaboration to deploy Ericsson’s secure, high-performing 5G Core network offerings to the benefit of Airtel’s millions of customers and enterprises across India.
The collaboration will enable Airtel to seamlessly transition to a commercially live, full-scale 5G Standalone (SA) network over time, bringing the high-end capabilities of 5G to their customers.
Commenting on the announcement, Randeep Sekhon, chief technology officer, Bharti Airtel, said, “Ericsson’s enduring partnership with Airtel has entered an exciting new phase, marked by the deployment of Ericsson’s 5G Core solutions to support Airtel’s transition to 5G SA. This rollout will play a pivotal role in Airtel’s long-term 5G strategy, boosting network capacity and enabling the delivery of innovative, differentiated services to customers.”
Meanwhile, Andres Vicente, head, Market Area Southeast Asia, Oceania and India, Ericsson, said, “As a global 5G leader, Ericsson is committed to providing Airtel its latest technology solutions. This deployment is a significant step towards making Airtel’s network 5G SA ready and future proof. Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G core enables monetisation through network slicing-based services and network API exposure, unleashing new, innovative use cases for consumers and enterprises.”
As part of this agreement, Ericsson will deploy its Signaling Controller solution within Airtel’s network. Furthermore, Ericsson’s 5G SA-enabled charging and policy solution will be introduced. These new capabilities represent a strategic enhancement to Airtel’s 5G monetisation efforts, enabling the development of new business models.
