A strategic partnership for implementing 5G networks solutions for India was announced today by Bharti Airtel and Tata Group.
The company said in its statement that as part of its 5G rollout plans in India, Airtel will pilot and deploy this indigenous solution and start the pilot in January 2022 as per the guidelines formulated by the Government of India.
A ‘state of the art’ O-RAN based Radio & NSA/SA Core has been developed by the Tata Group and has integrated a totally indigenous telecom stack, leveraging the Group capabilities and that of its partners. From January 2022, it will be available for commercial development, said the statement.
T?t? ??nsult?n?y Servi?es (T?S) brings its gl?b?l system integr?ti?n ex?ertise ?nd hel?s ?lign the end-t?-end s?luti?n t? b?th 3G?? ?nd ?-R?N st?nd?rds, ?s the netw?rk ?nd equi?ment ?re in?re?singly embedded int? s?ftw?re.
It said that these 5G solutions will open export opportunities for India once it is commercially proven in Airtel’s diverse and brownfield network. India is now the second largest telecom market in the world. It said that these Made in India’ 5G product and solutions are aligned to global standards, and interoperate with other products based on standard open interfaces and those defined by the ORAN Alliance.
Bharti & Tata To Join Forces
MD & CEO (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel, Gopal Vittal said that in order to make India a global hub for 5G and allied technologies, they are delighted to join forces with the Tata Group. India is well positioned to build cutting edge solutions and applications for the world with its world-class technology ecosystem and talent pool, which in turn would also provide a massive boost to India becoming an innovation and manufacturing destination.
N. G?n???thy Subr?m?ni?m fr?m the T?t? Gr?u?/ T?S s?id, “?s ? Gr?u?, we ?re ex?ited ?b?ut the ????rtunity ?resented by 5G ?nd ?dj??ent ??ssibilities. We ?re ??mmitted t? building ? w?rld-?l?ss netw?rking equi?ment ?nd s?luti?ns business t? ?ddress these ????rtunities in netw?rking s???e. We ?re ?le?sed t? h?ve ?irtel ?s ?ur ?ust?mer in this initi?tive.”
Testing To Start Soon
Airtel is committed to explore and implement O-RAN based networks in India and is a Board member of the O-RAN Alliance. Airtel, earlier this year also became the first telecom company in India to demonstrate 5G over its LIVE network in city of Hyderabad.
Using the spectrum allocated by the Department of Telecom, the company has started 5G trials in major cities.
The release said that the Tata group’s telecom and media enterprises cater to the communication requirements of global business houses to SMEs, and from wholesale to home networks. Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is a member of the O-RAN Alliance.