Airtel Join Hands With Ciena; Plans To Support 5G Rollout India

Airtel has deployed 600G and 800G photonic technology to increase fiber-optic network capacity in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. The new technology is expected to increase the network capacity and offer an enhanced 5G experience. This technology is likely to help the telco to launch 5G services in India.

"Airtel was the country's first telco to demonstrate live 5G service over a commercial network. As we work to deploy 5G more widely, Ciena plays an integral role in providing an agile network foundation to satisfy our customers' dynamic requirements," said Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel.

Why Are Telecom Operators Increasing Optic Fibre Capacity?

Notably, telecom operators are focussing on optic fiber capacity as it is important for rolling out 5G services. Additionally, it is expected that the data used on the network will see increased demand due to IoT and new 5G use cases.

Under this partnership, Airtel will deploy intelligent software platforms so that they can create the largest photonics Control Plane networks in India.

"The future of data consumption across India is at the edge - in homes, trains, hospitals, automobiles, factories, and many other mission-critical environments," said Ryan Perera, Vice President and General Manager, Ciena India.

Airtel 5G Trials In India

Airtel has recently conducted trials in Gurgaon Cyber Hub. The company has joined hands with Ericsson. Also, the telecom operator joins hands with Tata Group so that it can deploy Open-RAN-based 5G radio along with core solutions.

Besides, the company said that it will deploy the indigenous solution in its 5G rollout in the country. The pilot project is expected to start in January 2022.

This development comes soon after the telecom operator announced that its network has all capabilities, which can support the launch of commercial services in the country. Notably, the company also demonstrated live 5G use cases in its 1800 MHz band in Hyderabad.

It is worth considering that Reliance Jio and Airtel have become very active in terms of adding spectrum in the circles. This extra spectrum is expected to help telcos in conducting 5G trials in those circles.