Bharti Airtel has awarded a 3G contract to Nokia Networks to upgrade its 3G network in the Mumbai, West Bengal and Bihar telecom circles.
The upgrade, which will use Nokia’s latest Single RAN Advanced platform, will be an India-first dual band, dual carrier 3G network implementation of refarmed 900 MHz spectrum paired with Mumbai’s existing 3G network on 2100 MHz. This will enable higher throughput and thus improved 3G services for Bharti Airtel’s customers.
Under the contract, Nokia Networks will supply its Single RAN Advanced platform, based on its energy-efficient Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station**. This multi-standard radio platform is optimal because it will also support Bharti Airtel in its TD-LTE rollout and pave the way to FDD-LTE in the near future. In addition, Nokia Networks will deploy its Flexi Lite Base Station, a small all-in-one base station optimized for indoor and outdoor micro-cell deployments to provide the best coverage in densely crowded areas. Nokia will also supply its extremely compact, highly scalable and flexible multi-technology, all-IP multicontroller RNC (mcRNC).
“This deal bolsters our long-term partnership with Bharti Airtel, and we are committed to helping the operator provide further improved mobile broadband experience for its customers,” said Sandeep Girotra, Vice President and Head of India region, Nokia Networks. “While Nokia’s Single RAN Advanced platform will ensure a reliable 3G mobile broadband connectivity, our comprehensive services will ensure smooth deployment.”
