Nokia has successfully completed its first 5G non-standalone (NSA) Cloud RAN trial with Bharti Airtel (Airtel) in India. The project supports Airtel’s strategy of delivering a superior customer experience using high-performing networks. It is expected to deliver higher levels of service innovation, higher network automation, flexibility and efficient scaling of resources to support end-user services.
Nokia’s approach to Cloud RAN means that our customers can flexibly evolve to Cloud RAN with choices in Cloud infrastructure and data center hardware.
Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia
The trial took place in an over-the-air environment utilizing 3.5 GHz spectrum for 5G and 2100 MHz for 4G. Data calls were successfully performed with commercial user devices over Airtel’s commercial network achieving a throughput of over 1.2 Gbps. The trial utilized Nokia’s RAN Software for virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Centralized Unit (vCU) running on x86 Hardware with a CaaS layer. The trial also used Nokia’s L1 acceleration that will enable enhanced power efficiency and support Nokia’s anyRAN benefits of using common RAN software with the purpose-built part of the network. This will enable common functionality and performance across the hybrid network.
“This partnership with Nokia has enabled us to pioneer innovative solutions to upgrade our capabilities in 5G.”
Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer at Bharti Airtel
Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer, Bharti Airtel, said, “This successful Cloud RAN trial is a significant step forward in our consistent efforts to integrate the latest and most efficient technologies into our network and leverage these to deliver brilliant customer experiences.”
Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia, said, “This successful trial with our long-term partner, Bharti Airtel supports their ambitions for building scalable, agile and highly automated networks. This will drive efficiency, innovation, openness, and scale in their RAN evolution.”
Nokia has successfully completed its first 5G non-standalone (NSA) Cloud RAN trial with Bharti Airtel (Airtel) in India. The project supports Airtel’s strategy of delivering a superior customer experience using high-performing networks. It is expected to deliver higher levels of service innovation, higher network automation, flexibility and efficient scaling of resources to support end-user services.
