Ericsson to deploy 5G-ready LTE equipment for Vodafone Idea in India

Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson on Wednesday said it would deploy 5G-ready equipment across select markets in India.

As part of the contract, Ericsson is supplying radio access and transport equipment from its 5G-ready Ericsson Radio System portfolio, including the MINI-LINK 6000 microwave backhaul solution," the company said in a statement.

Nunzio Mirtillo, Head of Ericsson South East Asia, Oceania and India says, "We have been strategic partners to both Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for several years, and now we enter a new phase of partnership with this deal with VIL. The 5G-ready solutions in the Ericsson Radio System portfolio will help boost the capacity of VIL's LTE network and broaden the availability of high-quality mobile broadband services for its customers. These deployments will play an important role in building VIL's future-ready 5G network."

These deployments will provide VIL's network with advanced LTE capabilities, high capacity, low latency microwave backhaul and enable rapid deployment 5G services in future.

It will also improve VIL's spectral and energy efficiency while increasing overall network capacity. VIL customers will enjoy higher speeds while using apps, uploading and downloading files.

According to the statement, Ericsson India has already begun radio access and microwave network consolidation and modernization. Consolidation of existing deployed base (2G and 3G) will be carried out to maximize spectrum on LTE, followed by ongoing optimization of the network in order to enhance end-user experience, it said.

'Ericsson Radio System' is an end-to-end modular and scalable radio access network consisting of hardware, software, and services. MINI-LINK for microwave transmission is a "fully-integrated IP router portfolio, and fronthaul solutions - all managed by a common management system".