Airtel in talks with old and new vendors for 5G contracts: CTO

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel is in talks with new and traditional telecom gear makers to finalise equipment and network contracts for fifth generation mobile (5G) services, a senior company executive has said.

The carrier is developing a full 5G ecosystem using open radio networks that can support interoperation between different vendors' equipment to ensure flexibility in choosing gear vendors for its upcoming high-speed network.

"We are discussing with vendors about 5G contracts; we haven't closed anything," Randeep Sekhon, chief technology officer, Bharti Airtel, told ET.


"We are not just doing traditional vendors but are also doing O-Ran (open radio access networks, or Open Ran). We are developing a full ecosystem in O-Ran so that we can have alternatives," he said. "It is off-the-shelf kind of a technology."

Airtel is working with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and US firm Mavenir to deploy Open Ran-based 5G networks and a trial is already underway in Punjab with Mavenir. Sekhon said the firm's partnership with TCS is also "progressing" well.