Bharti Airtel selects Nokia for 5G deployment

•  Nokia to supply its market leading AirScale Base Station portfolio
• Marks close to 18 years of continuous cooperation across RAN technologies from 2G, 3G, 4G and now 5G with Bharti Airtel in India

Nokia today announced that it has secured a deal with leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel, for 5G radio access network (RAN) deployment. This multi-year deal follows the recently concluded 5G spectrum auctions and allocation of pan-India spectrum to Bharti Airtel, supporting their ambition to take India into the 5G era.

Nokia will provide equipment from its market-leading AirScale portfolio, including modular and scalable baseband as well as high-capacity 5G massive MIMO radios.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel said, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Nokia and take India into the 5G era. Airtel has always believed that the real leverage of 5G technology will come from the capacity to build an ecosystem across devices, networks, applications and services. As mobile penetration increases across India, mobile telecom services will have a transformative impact across all sectors of the economy. Airtel is investing in the right areas and working with the right partners to serve our customers even better.”

Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO at Nokia said, “This landmark deal reinforces our long-standing partnership with Bharti Airtel. We are delighted that they have chosen Nokia's best-in-class AirScale baseband and radio portfolio to deliver superior 5G performance in one of the world's largest networks. I look forward to our continued successful long-term collaboration in this vital and dynamic market.”