Bharti Airtel has deployed Nokia’s CloudBand-based software products to power its Voice over LTE (VoLTE) network in India, which supports more than 110 million customers.
This is the largest cloud-based VoLTE network in India and the largest Nokia-run VoLTE in the world. The cloud-based VoLTE deployment allows Airtel to provide its mobile customers faster and more reliable, cost-efficient call connectivity, Nokia said in a statement.
The solution, which has been deployed to cover all 22 telecom service areas in India, uses commercial off-the-shelf IT hardware with cloud-based virtual network functions (VNFs). These consume less power and space compared to the traditional 2G/3G circuit switched legacy core, it said.
Nokia’s VoLTE solution also enables Airtel to free up spectrum by ramping down its 3G network, allowing the operator to utilise the freed-up spectrum to deploy 4G/LTE services for better speed and capacity.
As part of its cloudification strategy, Airtel will also deploy Nokia’s CloudBand Infrastructure Software to create new revenue opportunities for 5G and internet-connected devices.
CloudBand is an open, scalable, flexible platform that will allow Airtel to adapt network capacity conforming with changing consumption patterns in real-time and in a cost-efficient manner.