Airtel Business, part of global communications solutions provider Bharti Airtel Limited, has entered into a strategic partnership with precise-positioning-technology company Swift Navigation to launch India’s first AI/ML-powered, cloud-based location service.

Called Airtel-Skylark Precise Positioning Service, the partners say it will improve accuracy by up to 100 times when compared to standard global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). It will also, of course, come together with Airtel’s pan-India 4G/5G network to deliver what Airtel calls a reliable and easily accessible centimetre-level-accurate positioning service for mission-critical, location-based applications for large-scale deployment.

A wide range of industries will soon be able to harness this high-accuracy service to power applications such as tolling, emergency response, digital mapping, construction, utilities, fleet management and autonomous vehicles. Specific applications cited by Airtel include powering advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and fully autonomous vehicles; transforming navigation, ridesharing and fitness apps with highly accurate, real-time location data; and implementing seamless, barrier-free or lane-level tolling without the need for extensive physical infrastructure.

Airtel adds that the system will unlock precise fleet management, route optimisation and accurate arrival-time predictions for vehicles, drones and delivery robots, especially in dense, urban environments. Trains too could benefit through enhanced safety and efficiency of rail operations via precise train positioning and control systems.

Such a system could also power precision agriculture through exact positioning for automated tractors, seeders and sprayers, helping farmers to optimise the use of water, fertiliser and pesticides and thus boosting crop yields and sustainability.

The initial phase will launch a 35,000 square kilometre network around the National Capital Region (Delhi and a number of neighbouring districts) later this year. Airtel says this network will be rolled out to other parts of the country in phases very soon after.