Airtel Business partners Swift Navigation to launch AI/ML-powered cloud-based location service

Airtel Business on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Swift Navigation to launch Airtel-Skylark, an AI/ML-powered cloud-based location service that the company claims to be delivering accuracy up to 100 times better than standard Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).

The service combines Swift Navigation's Skylark technology with Airtel's pan-India 4G/5G network to provide a reliable centimetre-level accurate positioning platform for mission-critical, large-scale location-based applications.

"In a country like ours, with intricate lanes and bylanes, every centimetre makes a difference in identifying a precise location or address, especially for critical services like first responders.


"This breakthrough technology will not only revolutionise emergency responses and set new benchmarks for industrial applications, but will also fast-track innovations in use cases like autonomous mobility and satellite-based toll collections," Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO -- Airtel Business, said.

A wide range of industries will be able to harness the service to power applications such as tolling, emergency response, digital mapping, construction, utilities, fleet management and autonomous vehicles, the company said in a statement.

Key applications of Airtel-Skylark include advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous vehicles for enhanced road safety, smart tolling through barrier-free and lane-level solutions, precise fleet and last-mile delivery management, improved railway safety, precision agriculture for optimised input usage, as well as enhanced real-time location services for mobile consumer applications.

The initial network rollout covers 35,000 square kilometres around the National Capital Region (NCR) later this year, with plans to expand pan-India in phases.