NEW DELHI: Ericsson announced on Friday that it had inked a pact with telecom major Bharti Airtel recently for collaboration in 5G technology. Ericsson is currently a vendor to Airtel on 4G and other services.
“We have MoUs (agreements) with 36 operators globally. In India, we have recently tied up with Bharti Airtel for 5G technology,” Nunzio Mirtillo, Ericsson Senior Vice President and Head of Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India said. While Mirtillo did not specify the exact details of the collaboration, the broad contours state that Ericsson will work with Airtel on creating a strategic roadmap for evolution of its network to the 5G technology.
The announcement comes in the wake of a flurry of similar pacts in the segment. Earlier this year, Airtel had also inked a similar pact with Finnish communications major Nokia to expand their partnership to areas like 5G technology standards and management of connected devices.
“The 5G technology showcase has been organised in the direction of creating a robust 5G ecosystem in the country even as the Government plans to have 5G network roll outs by 2020,” Mirtillo said.