Bharti Airtel, Nokia deepen core network tie-up to accelerate new 5G service delivery

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and Finnish gear maker Nokia are expanding their core network collaboration to speed up new 5G service delivery, a release said on Wednesday. Nokia has an expansive core footprint in Bharti Airtel's network and already provides several other core technologies including VoLTE (Voice over LTE), HSS (Home Subscriber Server), and so on.

"Nokia and Bharti Airtel are expanding their partnership with the deployment of Nokia's Packet Core appliance-based and Fixed Wireless Access solutions for providing a better network experience for Airtel's growing 4G/5G customer base," the release said.

The solution will help integrate 5G and 4G technologies into a single set of servers.


"Nokia's FWA will provide additional capacities for home broadband and enterprise-critical application services," the release said.

Airtel will use Nokia's automation framework to realise zero-touch service launch and efficient lifecycle management for core network functions. This will enhance its ability to deliver new services faster while reducing network operational costs.

Leveraging Nokia's converged Packet Core solution for 5G standalone (SA) readiness, Airtel will continue its evolution toward advanced 5G and simplify its network architecture to meet the growing needs of data while reducing network operational costs.

"Nokia has an expansive core footprint in Bharti Airtel's network and already provides several other core technologies including VoLTE , HSS , HLR (Home Location Register), UDM (Unified Data Management) and VoNR (Voice over New Radio), along with MANO (Automated Management and Orchestration)," the release elaborated.