Heena Sharma Blog

  Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has conducted India's first 5G trial in the 700 MHz spectrum band in partnership with Nokia. The demonstration, which was conducted on the outskirts of Kolkata, also marked the first 5G trial in the eastern India, the company said in a statement. Airtel has been allotted test spectrum in multiple bands by Department of Telecommunications for the validation of 5G technology and use cases. "Airtel conducts India's first 5G trial in the 700 MHz band in partnership with Nokia," the telco said. Airtel used equipment from Nokia's 5G portfolio, which included Nokia AirScale radios and standalone (SA) core. Read More  

  Airtel is now a 5G-ready network and the telecom operator is waiting for adequate spectrum allocation to rollout 5G services in the country, said Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO, Bharti Airtel on Thursday. Recently, the company demonstrated live 5G over a commercial network in Hyderabad city and said that its network is 5G ready. Airtel did this over its existing liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band through the Non Stand Alone network technology. Using the dynamic spectrum sharing, Airtel operated 5G and 4G concurrently within the same spectrum block. “I am very proud of our engineers who have worked tirelessly to showcase this incredible capability in Tech City, Hyderabad today. Every one of our investments is future proofed as this game changing test in Hyderabad proves. With Airtel being the first operator to demonstrate this capability, we have shown again that we have always been the first in India to pioneer new technologies in our quest for empowering Indians everywhere,”

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced free access to its e-book platform Juggernaut Books to support people in staying home during the lockdown. "As India stays at home to support the government's efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, readers can now access thousands of top books and novels on Juggernaut Books (formerly known as Airtel Books) for free by simply downloading the app (Android/iOS) on their smartphones," Bharti Airtel said in a statement. Airtel acquired a strategic stake in Juggernaut in 2017. Juggernaut is also organising an innovative online literary festival as part of its efforts to promote reading. Read More

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei is expected to conduct 5G trials for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea , sources said, as the central government finalises the trial runs before the spectrum auctions. Sources said both Airtel and Vodafone have also joined ZTE, Nokia and Ericsson, apart from Huawei, for conducting the 5G trials. Reliance Jio will rope in South Korean equipment maker Samsung. State-owned BSNL is also likely to go with ZTE. The firms have submitted applications for 5G trials, industry sources said. The Chinese firm had had come under a cloud after there were allegations that its electronic and telecom devices helped China to spy on US corporations and agencies. The firm has been barred in Australia and Japan, but welcomed in Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The central government had even constituted a committee headed by its principal scientific advisor to decide on Huawei’s participation in the 5G trials. The trials would establish use ca

There's no denying the fact that a hike in fuel prices , especially diesel which is a key transportation fuel, affects the prices of groceries making commodities of daily use expensive for the masses. But there's another way that a surge in fuel prices is likely to have an impact on your pocket. ALSO READ: With consecutive hikes, petrol crosses Rs 90-mark in Maharashtra's Parbhani According to the ET report, diesel cost forms seven to eight per cent of the total revenue of a telecom company and a continuous hike in its price is likely to have an impact on the company's Ebitda margins in the July-September period. Telecom industry is the second largest buyer of diesel after the Railways and spends nearly Rs 90 billion on it on an annual basis. The dip in margins is another hit for the telecom industry which is reeling under the pressure of nearly Rs 8 trillion of debt, ET reports, caused by a price war started with the entry of Reliance Jio into the sector. Rea

Reliance Jio, a Mukesh Ambani owned telecommunication service provider, is reportedly planning to provide 4G LTE-based voice and data services in remote locations through satellites . The telecom operator has reportedly awarded a contract to the US-based Hughes Communication, a satellite-based internet and television service provider – according to a news report in the Economic Times. Jio would use capacity from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and technology from Hughes to provide 4G LTE connectivity in remote locations, the report added. According to the report, Reliance Jio is planning to use satellite-backed connectivity solution in around 400 remote locations to provide 4G LTE voice and data services. These locations include hilly regions and islands where providing connectivity using a conventional tower-based set-up is difficult due to geography and terrain limitations. Therefore, the satellite-based connectivity solution would not only provide voice and data con

This is the second content partnership Airtel has announced in the country in as many weeks. Last week, it announced a long-term content and distribution partnership with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Companies News : Airtel and Netflix have announced an expansion of their partnership in India through which subscribers of select Airtel Postpaid and V-Fiber home broadband plans will receive a three-month free Netflix subscription. After this, these subscribers will be able to pay for Netflix subscription using their Airtel postpaid or home broadband bill. Existing Netflix subscribers will also be eligible for this gift. Subscribers not eligible for the gift will be able to sign up to Netflix through Airtel’s applications and pay for their subscription using their Airtel bill. The telecom operator will announce details of eligible postpaid mobile and home broadband plans over the coming weeks. Netflix and Airtel have also partnered to promote Netflix content through a de