Bharti Airtel’s 5G trial network has gone live in Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub in the Millennium City, less than a month after the government approved testing of the next-generation technology. The facility operates in the 3500 MHz bands utilising Ericsson’s 5G equipment with a throughput of more than 1 Gbps.
Airtel is conducting the trials in accordance with the Department of Telecommunications’ rules (DoT). Airtel has been granted spectrum in four Indian telecom circles: Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Delhi.
Talking about DoT’s rules, Airtel chose Ericsson 5G network equipment after the DoT mandated that none of the authorized telecom operators use equipment from Chinese 5G gear makers such as ZTE or Huawei. The Department of Telecommunications has granted permission for telecoms to use 5G equipment from Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, C-DOT, and Reliance Jio.
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Airtel has been given 5G trial spectrum in the frequencies of 3500 MHz, 28 GHz, and 700 MHz in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru. It is currently testing its 5G trial network with Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, Realme, and Apple.
Through Airtel’s network vendors and device partners, Airtel will utilize the Qualcomm 5G RAN Platforms to roll out virtualized and Open RAN-based 5G networks. Airtel, as a board member of the O-RAN Alliance, is committed to driving the success of O-RAN and is working with Qualcomm Technologies to explore and implement the O-RAN approach for India
Airtel
The telco would most likely test the mid-spectrum in other parts of the country. In the next few days, a 5G trial network is going to be launched in Mumbai.
Airtel was the first telecom operator in the country to test 5G on a live commercial network in Hyderabad earlier this year, demonstrating the company’s technological capabilities.
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