Airtel and Nokia Partner to Design a Roadmap for 5G and IoT Applications: BSNL Still is Talks on 5G
The world is moving to the next internet technology – 5G and trials have already been conducted in various parts of the world. India is also going to see such trials soon, as the Government prepares for the infrastructure of this technology.
Airtel and Nokia has signed a deal to deploy 4G in 9 circles across India, and now the duo is back again to work on the strategic roadmap for the implementation of 5G. This is also the first time a telco has taken interest in getting 5G to India, as and when it is available globally.
The two companies will also work on getting the new technology on Internet of Thing-enabled devices. 5G will be built upon the existing 4G network in terms of operations and costs, and will deliver excellent quality along with reliability.
“5G and IoT applications have tremendous potential to transform lives and we are pleased to partner with Nokia to enable these future technologies for our customers,” Abhay Savargaonkar, Director – Network Services (India and South Asia) at Bharti Airtel, said in a statement.
5G has the capability to provide speeds of up to 20gbps for download and is extremely efficient on battery. It is also expected to take IoT devices to another level, owing to the possibilities and connections.
Sanjay Malik, India head at Nokia, said, “After our successful association with Bharti Airtel for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, we are proud to partner to prepare for the future of mobile networks. We will leverage our global experience in 5G-related industry projects and collaborations to enable Bharti Airtel to prepare their networks for greater capacity, coverage and speed.”
Nokia 5G FIRST allows operators to address the near-infinite capacity demands of new applications anywhere – seamlessly and securely. With 5G FIRST, operators can gain a first-to-market advantage by launching 5G use cases before the standards have been finalized. 5G FIRST builds on commercial 5G Nokia AirScale and AirFrame platforms to provide a versatile solution that spans the network.
The Federal Communication Commission(FCC) authorized 5G LTE-U devices on the 5GHz spectrum previously used exclusively by wi-fi and Bluetooth devices. This means telcos will have more frequencies to transmit data, making 5G a reality in another year or so.
BSNL is also in talks with Nokia on 5G
State-owned BSNL is also working on signing a pact with Nokia on the deployment of 5G and IoT applications in India. The world is moving fast towards 5G, while India is still struggling to provide 4G LTE to its citizens.
The deal had to be signed yesterday at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain but there has been no press release about that yet. The deal will list down all the methods to be followed to upgrade from 4G to 5G.
However, these companies should also realise that the penetration and reliability of 4G in India is very low. There is still a vast majority using 2G and 3G on their mobile phones, and feature phones constitute a huge population.
