Airtel and BSNL will team-up with Nokia to bring 5G to India

Telecom players Airtel and BSNL have signed a number of memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with telecom equipment maker and technology leader Nokia to bring 5G networks to India. This move can be seen as part of a long-term strategy to be the first to bring the latest technology to the market. The companies met earlier to start work on IoT-enabled devices in addition to the 5G network platform.

According to a report in The Economic Times, these MoUs are the stepping stones to faster 5G adoption as the standard is under development by telecom networking giants like Nokia, Cisco, Ericsson and others.

Sanjay Malik, the head of India at Nokia adds, “Thoughts behind these MoUs would be to introduce 5G here, and what are the steps required for the same, besides identifying applications to define the target segment, which will lead to a complete 5G strategy for telcos.”

Nokia detailed that this is a ‘preparatory phase’ for a wider 5G adoption before the commercial launch of 5G to take place around 2019-2020 around the world.

According to the details, the field trails along with content and applications will start next year. Nokia is working with BSNL to set up the foundation for the 5G trails.