Bharti Airtel partners with Nokia to automate data centre network

Finnish telecommunication giant Nokia on Wednesday said Bharti Airtel would deploy solution from Nokia's Nuage Networks to upgrade its data centres. Nuage Networks is a Nokia venture focused on software-defined networking solution. Airtel will deploy Nuage Networks VSP (virtualised services platform) solution in 15 circles (service areas) in the northern and southern parts of the country to automate its data centre networks, Nokia said in a statement.

"We are confident that this partnership with Nokia will allow us to upgrade our data centre and will enable us to continue to provide the best-in-class services to our subscribers," said 
Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer at Bharti Airtel.

Once deployed, the Nuage Networks VSP solution will allow Airtel to provide new services, including Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), it added. The move gains significance in the backdrop of Bharti Airtel preparing the networks for new technologies like 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

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Nokia on February 24 announced Bharti Airtel will conduct a trial on its homogenous fronthaul solution, which can support 4G, 5G and enterprise services through a common platform.

Fronthaul is the link between baseband unit and radio, and modernisation of this part of the network is essential to deliver high-speed and low latency of 5G services.