Nokia recently made an announcement that it has secured an agreement for the rollout of a 5G radio access network (RAN) with one of the world’s largest telecom operators, Bharti Airtel. This multi-year deal follows the recently finished 5G spectrum auction & Bharti Airtel’s allotment of the pan-India spectrum, supporting their desire to lead India into the era of 5G technology.
Nokia can provide equipment out of its global market AirScale portfolio, which includes modular & scalable baseband along with high-capacity 5G massive MIMO radios.
In August, Bharti Airtel will begin rolling out its next-generation networks after signing multi-year, about Rs 19,750 crore ( $2.5 billion) equipment supply deals with Swedish firm Ericsson, Finnish firm Nokia, & South Korean firm Samsung.
The MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel Gopal Vittal said, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Nokia and take India into the 5G era. Airtel has always believed that the real leverage of 5G technology will come from the capacity to build an ecosystem across devices, networks, applications and services. As mobile penetration increases across India, mobile telecom services will have a transformative impact across all sectors of the economy. Airtel is investing in the right areas and working with the right partners to serve our customers even better.”
The President & CEO of Nokia Pekka Lundmark said, “This landmark deal reinforces our long-standing partnership with Bharti Airtel. We are delighted that they have chosen Nokia’s best-in-class AirScale baseband and radio portfolio to deliver superior 5G performance in one of the world’s largest networks. I look forward to our continued successful long-term collaboration in this vital and dynamic market.”
 with Bharti Airtel){kind=link}