Airtel to test Nokia's 5G-ready fronthaul solution

India's second largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has joined hands with gear maker Nokia to a trial homogenous fronthaul solution which can support 4G, 5G and enterprise services through a common platform.

This trial is part of Bharti Airtel's strategy to make its network future ready to meet the growing demand for high-speed data driven by the digital revolution in India.

"Airtel has always set the benchmark when it comes to the roll-out of latest network technologies. The upgrade of the transport network is also essential to cater to the booming consumption of mobile broadband services and enable world-class digital services. Nokia is our longstanding partner and we look forward to their support in our journey towards 5G," Randeep Sekhon, CTO at Bharti Airtel, said.

Nokia said that solution under this trial has the potential to improve the performance of service providers' existing network even as it prepares the network for 5G and to meet the future demand. It allows service providers to meet the growing demand for bandwidth and enables to deliver 5G services.

Sanjay Malik Head of India Market, at Nokia, said: "The modernization of the transport infrastructure is crucial for ensuring the ultra-high speed and extremely low latency, promised by 5G. We look forward to this trial with Bharti Airtel, which is a crucial step towards preparing the networks for 5G. The ring architecture will help in adding resiliency to the network and ensure that the network is able to meet the ever-growing bandwidth demand of their customers."

Fronthaul is the link between baseband unit and radio, and modernization of this part of the transport network is essential to deliver high-speed and low latency of 5G services.

The solution supports multiple interfaces, including Common Public Radio Interfaces (CPRI) and enhanced Common Public Radio Interfaces (eCPRI).