Airtel 3.0 unveiled at IMC 2018; showcases futuristic digital technologies

India’s leading telecommunications services provider Bharti Airtel has showcased a range of futuristic digital technologies and exciting products at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2018.

The showcase is part of the company’s Airtel 3.0 vision under which it aims to build networks and services that enrich the lives of customers by enabling a world-class digital experiences.

Airtel displayed 5G network experience (speed and latency comparison with 4G) and several exciting use cases for homes and enterprises. These use cases demonstrate the key benefits of 5G networks - massive capacity, ultra-low latency and the ability to serve a very large number of concurrent users.

Airtel Connected Home: By leveraging advanced Home IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, Airtel has showcased a life-size replica of a modern connected home with intelligent devices and appliances. The Airtel Connected Home is powered by a ‘1Gbps V-Fiber’ link to enable a seamless digital experience.

The connected home also showcased Airtel’s upcoming Android DTH STB, which brings the world of digital content to the home and will act as the home IoT gateway. Airtel also demonstrated its in-house developed multi-screen video platform for seamless content play across devices.

Airtel Connected Car: The Airtel Connected Car use case demonstrates how IoT can empower drivers through auto telemetry, which will capture and push data related to key parameters of the car and its functioning in real time.

Augmented Reality based Holographic Communication on 5G: In another first in India, Airtel in partnership with Huawei, demonstrated futuristic AR based Holographic Communication for 5G. Using the Holographic Communication, users feel fully immersed when communicating with a live hologram. AR technology is especially relevant in the Indian context presenting immense possibilities in use cases of AR assisted Learning & Training, Gaming, Live Events, and Entertainment.

Virtual Reality based 360-degree content: In partnership with Nokia, Airtel demonstrated Virtual Reality based 360-degree content like undersea experience that can be streamed in a 5G live environment.

In addition to this, Airtel and Huawei demonstrated another Virtual Reality with virtual iPAD, where users can play common games like “candy crush saga” on “virtual screen” using Oculus.

Next-gen BVLOS Autonomous Drones: Airtel in partnership with Ericsson showcased Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) autonomous drones for “next generation e-delivery” services over 5G networks.

The powerful use case demonstrated how autonomous drones, which are akin to self-driving cars in the sky, can be leveraged for mission-critical applications such as disaster response & monitoring, emergency delivery services and remote surveillance of critical infrastructure by leveraging the high bandwidth and the ultra-low latency of 5G networks. These self-driving drones will be able to reach locations quickly and accurately without the assistance of remote based piloting.

Building for a Digital India: Airtel has set up Airtel X Labs in Bengaluru with the aim of driving cutting-edge innovation in the areas of AI, IoT, AR, and VR and is building a world-class team for the facility. Airtel aims to build use cases for India and the world out of this facility.

Airtel Business, the B2B unit of Airtel, has started rolling out innovative integrated digital solutions for enterprises, from large corporates to startups. From secure connectivity to cloud, data center services, enterprise IoT and more Airtel Business is enabling digital transformation across corporate India.

Airtel Payments Bank, India’s first payments bank, is contributing to financial inclusion and banking for all vision by taking digital financial services to every corner of the country.

Randeep Sekhon, CTO - Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel has been a pioneer when it comes to introducing latest technologies in the Indian telecom sector. Innovation is core to our DNA and we will continue to build exciting digital products for a Digital India.”