MWC 2019: Airtel partners with Cisco to deploy 5G IP network

MWC 2019: Cisco said that it has partnered with Bharati Airtel to work on IP-based automated network which will help the latter in gradual transition to 5G. The American firm said that deployment of IP-based automated network will help Airtel deliver enhanced subscriber experiences and high-speed mobile access.

“With today’s announcement, Airtel is marking key milestones in its network architecture transition to prepare the company for greater reach and scale and deliver quality services to mobile users in India– no matter their location,” said Jonathan Davidson, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider Business, Cisco.

The IP-based network architecture will enable new functionality, including segment routing, traffic engineering and ethernet VPN that helps ensure interoperability and the ability to leverage existing investments in its MPLS-TP network.

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The fully-automated IP network architecture will also give Airtel the ability to enhance its services to SMBs and enterprises in urban centers and rural communities, including key growth verticals such as Smart Cities, IoT, Utilities, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Retail, said Cisco.

“As part of Project Leap, Airtel has built a world-class network that is ready to serve the explosive growth in high speed data services in a market with over one billion subscribers,” said Randeep Sekhon, CTO at Bharti Airtel. “Partnering with Cisco will help us transform our network architecture to enhance customer experiences while concurrently preparing for 5G and the era of connected things.”

Under this partnership, Airtel will collaborate with Cisco Customer Experience to extends IP services to rural markets. The company said that network architecture is based on open network standards to simplify adoption by other operators.

Cisco is pushing its technology innovations in routing, 5G, subscriber experience (mobile, cable, fixed), automation, optical and optics. Together with its Customer Experience team of experts, Cisco work with service providers, media and web companies.