Airtel collaborates with Cisco to launch India’s largest 5G-ready, 100G IP and optical integrated network designed to enhance network availability, capacity and scale. The deployment is part of Airtel’s initiative to build a 5G ready network that continues to serve the growing demand for high speed data services in the country.
India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications market with a subscriber base of 1.17 billion. Cisco’s recent Annual Internet Report forecasts there will be 67.2 million 5G connections in India by 2023 (4.9% of total mobile connections), and 66% of all devices will be mobile connected by 2023, (34% will be wired or connected over Wi-Fi).
Airtel’s network serves over 280 million mobile subscribers across 4G and 2G technologies. This new IP over Ethernet over Fiber network is the largest hyper-complex brownfield network transformation of its kind in India, collapsing multiple legacy domains to build a flatter, simpler and automated 5G-ready IP network for enhanced customer experiences. It integrates Cisco IP and optical solutions along with segment routing to more easily extend services in rural communities while significantly improving network availability and creating cost efficiencies.
