Bharti Airtel, Qualcomm Tie Up To Provide 5G Services In India

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday it will collaborate with US chipmaker Qualcomm to roll out 5G services in India. The country's second-largest telecom operator said it will use Qualcomm's 5G RAN platforms to roll out virtualized and open RAN-based 5G networks. The flexible and scalable architecture of O-RAN will create new opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to become viable players in the deployment of 5G networks, Bharti Airtel said in a press release.

"In addition, Airtel and Qualcomm Technologies will collaborate to enable a wide array of use cases, including 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) that is designed to deliver broadband connectivity at gigabit speeds to homes and businesses. This collaboration also aims to allow a faster rollout of broadband services in a cost effective and expeditious manner across India for "last mile" connectivity challenges that are becoming increasingly important in today's remote, mobile-first society," Bharti Airtel said.

Airtel 5G solutions including FWA services will be able to deliver multi-gigabit internet speeds wirelessly to customers and open up a wide range of innovations. For customers, the ultra-fast and low latency of 5G will unlock a digital world of limitless possibilities - gigabit size file downloads in seconds and 4K video streaming on the go across smartphones and computing devices, lmmersive technologies such as Virtual Reality and SMART Homes with connected things, Bharti Airtel added.

"Airtel has been a pioneer of new technologies and our networks are fully ready for 5G. We are delighted to have Qualcomm Technologies as a key technology provider in our journey to roll-out world-class 5G in India. With Airtel's integrated service portfolio and Qualcomm Technologies' 5G leadership, we will be well placed to usher India into the next era of hyperfast and ultra-low latency digital connectivity," Randeep Sekhon, CTO at Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Following this development, Bharti Airtel shares traded 0.04 per cent lower at Rs 570.50, underperforming the Sensex which was up 0.2 per cent.