Ericsson has secured a multi-billion-dollar deal to supply 4G and 5G equipment and solutions to Indian operator Bharti Airtel, outpacing its rivals.
In a statement, the Swedish vendor announced that the multi-year agreement includes the deployment of centralised RAN and Open RAN-ready solutions. These upgrades aim to transform Bharti Airtel’s network, enhancing coverage and capacity.
The operator’s 4G customers are also set to benefit, as existing 4G radios will receive software upgrades to improve performance. Bharti Airtel, which reported a subscriber base of approximately 620 million in its 2024 financial year, will leverage these advancements to enhance customer experience.
Randeep Sekhon, Bharti Airtel’s CTO, commented: “This deployment will enable us to further improve the speed, reliability, and coverage of our network, ensuring an exceptional experience for our customers.”
Andres Vicente, Ericsson’s Head of South-East Asia, Oceania, and India, added: “This partnership extension reflects our shared vision to build a robust 4G and 5G infrastructure for Bharti Airtel to serve the connectivity needs of its customer base – including new 5G use cases as they emerge.”
Ericsson currently supports 170 live 5G networks across more than 70 countries.
