Bharti Airtel Tata Group collaborates to build Made in India 5G Network

Bharti Airtel Tata Group collaborates to build Made in India 5G Network

Bharti Airtel and Tata Group on Monday announced a strategic partnership for implementing 5G network solutions for India. The announcement underscores a push for indigenous 5G solutions in India, as the world's second-largest telecom market gears up for fifth generation mobile networks, That would enable connecting virtually everything together including machines, objects, and devices at ultra-high speeds.

Tata Group has developed O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) based Radio and core elements and integrated a totally indigenous telecom stack, While Airtel will pilot and deploy this indigenous solution as part of its 5G rollout plans in India, With a pilot beginning in January 2022, as per the norms formulated by the government.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) brings its global system integration expertise and helps align the end-to-end solution to both 3GPP and O-RAN standards, As the network and equipment are increasingly embedded into

software," the statement said. 

These 'Made in India' 5G products and solutions are aligned to global standards and interoperate with other products based on standard open interfaces and those defined by the O-RAN Alliance. The 5G solutions, once commercially proven in Airtel's diverse and brownfield network will open export opportunities for India.

What is O-RAN

Cellular networks have evolved and transformed in the last two decades to accommodate various technological innovations whether it be for 2G to 3G to 4G. The global telecom networks are now gradually heading towards 5G.

For this, the networks will have to evolve accordingly. From closed traditional networks they will now transcend towards open radio networks, better known as open radio access network.

what is OPEN RAN

O-RAN (Open RAN) is a term used for industry-wide standards for Radio Access Network interfaces that support interoperation between vendors' equipment and offer network flexibility at a lower cost. The main purpose of open RAN is to have an interoperability standard for RAN elements including non-proprietary white box hardware and software from different vendors.Network operators that opt for RAN elements with standard interfaces can avoid being stuck with one vendor's proprietary hardware and software.

Earlier this year Bharti Airtel became the first telecom company in India to demonstrate 5G 

Earlier this year, Airtel became the first telecom company in India to demonstrate 5G over its live network in the city of Hyderabad. The company has started 5G trials in major cities using spectrum allocated by the Department of Telecom. It may be recalled that the Department of Telecom (DoT) had recently allocated spectrum to operators to start 5G trials, in the country. The trials will be conducted at various locations, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Gujarat, Hyderabad,among others, industry sources say.