Intel and Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced a collaboration to drive network development of 4G and 5G virtualized radio access network (vRAN) and Open RAN technology to transform Airtel’s networks to reap the full possibilities of 5G for its customers.
Work by Intel and Airtel will evolve communications networks from fixed-function equipment to virtualized cloud-native deployments and enable edge-to-cloud communications to power our hyperconnected world.
Airtel’s network will be powered by a collection of Intel technology: the latest Xeon Scalable processors, FPGAs and eASICs, Ethernet 800 Series, and FlexRAN reference architecture.
Transforming its network to meet the growing needs of its more than 345 million subscribers with flexible, software-defined infrastructure will allow Airtel to rapidly respond to varying customer requirements for bandwidth and latency. By providing the foundation for wide-scale enhanced mobile broadband, mobile edge computing and network slicing, Airtel can offer new services for consumers while programming its network to yield long-term cost optimizations.
Dan Rodriguez, Intel Corporate VP, Network Platforms
Airtel is delivering their next-generation enhanced network with a breadth of Intel technology, including Intel Xeon Scalable processors and FlexRAN software to optimize RAN workloads with embedded intelligence, to scale their infrastructure and deliver on the promise of a connected India.
Randeep Sekhon, Bharti Airtel CTO
Intel’s cutting-edge technologies and experience will contribute immensely to Airtel’s mission of serving India with world-class 5G services. We also look forward to working with Intel and home-grown companies to unlock India’s potential as a global 5G hub.
