Ericsson and Bharti Airtel Team Up for Nationwide 5G Expansion in India

2025-02-25 wireless

New Delhi, Tuesday, 25 February 2025.
Ericsson and Bharti Airtel have joined forces to deploy Ericsson’s 5G Core technology across India, propelling the 5G network’s growth and monetization efforts.

Strategic Partnership Evolution

This latest collaboration builds upon a 25-year relationship between the two companies [1], marking a significant advancement since their initial 5G contract in India in 2022 [1]. The partnership, announced on February 23, 2025 [2], will implement Ericsson’s Signaling Controller solution and 5G Standalone-enabled Charging and Policy solution, designed to enhance Airtel’s network capabilities and monetization potential [1]. This strategic move comes at a crucial time, as the Global 5G Infrastructure Market, valued at USD 20.73 billion in 2023, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 54.71% through 2029 [7].

Technical Implementation and Innovation

The deployment focuses on advancing Airtel’s network to 5G Standalone architecture, enabling sophisticated features such as network slicing and API exposure for enhanced service delivery [1]. This technical evolution aligns with broader regional developments, as demonstrated by Ericsson’s recent success in achieving a peak downlink speed of 9.4 Gbps on a live commercial 5G Standalone network with Telstra in Australia [4]. The implementation is particularly significant given India’s unique challenges in broadband connectivity [6], with the partnership aimed at delivering fiber-like speeds to areas where traditional fiber deployment is impractical.

Market Impact and Future Prospects

The collaboration comes amid significant market developments in India’s telecommunications sector. Just weeks prior, on February 12, 2025, Airtel strengthened its 5G ecosystem by partnering with Nokia and Qualcomm for Fixed Wireless Access solutions [6], indicating a comprehensive approach to network enhancement. This multi-vendor strategy positions Airtel to compete effectively in India’s rapidly evolving 5G landscape, where the country aims to achieve substantial coverage by 2027 [7]. The partnership is particularly notable as China currently leads global 5G infrastructure with over 2 million base stations [7], setting a benchmark for rapid deployment and coverage expansion.

According to industry experts, this deployment is expected to catalyze significant economic benefits across various sectors. Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel, emphasizes that this collaboration marks an exciting new phase in their 5G journey [1], while Andres Vicente of Ericsson highlights the potential for innovative use cases for both consumers and enterprises [1]. The partnership aligns with India’s broader digital transformation goals, supporting the country’s growing need for advanced connectivity solutions in sectors ranging from healthcare to smart manufacturing [5]. With Airtel serving over 550 million customers across 15 countries [6], this implementation has the potential to significantly impact digital accessibility and service quality across the region.

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5G evolution Ericsson partnership