The demonstration was conducted on the outskirts of Kolkata, which was also the first 5G trial conducted in the eastern part of India, as per the company.
Bharti Airtel has announced that it successfully conducted its first 5G trial in India, in partnership with Nokia. The telecom operator revealed that it conducted 5G trial after it was allotted a test spectrum in multiple bands by the government for the validation of 5G technology and use cases.
The demonstration was conducted on the outskirts of Kolkata, which was also the first 5G trial conducted in the eastern part of India, as per the company. With the enhanced propagation characteristics of the 700MHz band, Airtel and Nokia achieved high-speed wireless broadband network coverage of 40Km between two 3GPP standard 5G sites in real-life conditions.
“Back in 2012, Airtel launched India’s first 4G service in Kolkata. Today, we are delighted to conduct India’s first 5G demo in the coveted 700 MHz band in the city to showcase the power of this technology standard. We believe that with the right pricing of 5G spectrum in the upcoming auctions, India can unlock the digital dividend and build a truly connected society with broadband for all,” Randeep Singh Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel said.
Airtel asserted that it used equipment from Nokia’s 5G portfolio, which included Nokia AirScale radios and standalone (SA) core.
“The 5G deployment using 700Mhz spectrum is helping communications service providers across the world to cost-effectively provide mobile broadband in remote areas, where typically it is challenging for them to set up the network infrastructure. Nokia is at the forefront in the development of the global 5G ecosystem, and we look forward to supporting Airtel on its 5G journey,” Naresh Asija, Vice President, Nokia, said.
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