Ericsson Secures Multi-Billion, Multi-Year Deal Extension with Airtel for 4G/5G RAN.

Ericsson announced recently that it has secured a multi-year, multi-billion extension deal with Bharti Airtel for 4G and 5G radio access network (RAN) products and solutions. Under the new contract, Ericsson will deploy centralized RAN and Open RAN-ready solutions, supporting Airtel’s network transformation to offer broader coverage and enhanced capacity.

Additionally, Ericsson will upgrade its existing 4G radio infrastructure to improve customer experience by increasing network performance.

Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer at Bharti Airtel, expressed, “This deployment will enable us to further improve the speed, reliability, and coverage of our network, ensuring an exceptional experience for our customers.”

Ericsson has been a key connectivity partner for Airtel for over 25 years, providing support across every mobile communications generation. As a global leader in 5G, Ericsson currently powers 170 live 5G networks in more than 70 countries.

Andres Vicente, Head of Ericsson South-East Asia, Oceania, and India, emphasized the partnership’s role in enhancing Airtel’s 4G and 5G infrastructure to meet evolving customer needs and emerging 5G use cases.

This deal follows a similar multi-billion, multi-year agreement between Airtel and Nokia, announced on November 20, for deploying 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities. Nokia's contract includes the installation of its 5G AirScale portfolio and the energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology, further enhancing Airtel’s network capacity and coverage.

Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator, serves a subscriber base of 406.5 million as of September 2024, with 263.6 million customers on 4G and 5G networks.

HBL