Devesh
Core Member
Bharti Airtel has awarded a $60 million (402 crore) pan-India deal to Finnish gear maker Nokia to implement voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) calling technology which may be launched for subscribers within this year, people familiar with the matter said.
“Airtel was piloting the technology in a few areas and after successful testing, is now looking at a bigger launch by giving a pan-India contract for IMS (IP multimedia system) solution to Nokia,” one of these people said. The Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator had earlier this year given a smaller contract for IMS solution to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles, ET had reported earlier this year.
VoLTE allows an operator to offer both voice and data without switching between bands, with voice being just another application that rides on an LTE data network, a technology that newcomer Reliance Jio has adopted. Airtel currently offers calling on the legacy circuit-switch technology.
Reliance Jio: Airtel to counter Reliance Jio with a big bang VoLTE launch, awards $60-mn nationwide contract to Nokia - ET Telecom
“Airtel was piloting the technology in a few areas and after successful testing, is now looking at a bigger launch by giving a pan-India contract for IMS (IP multimedia system) solution to Nokia,” one of these people said. The Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator had earlier this year given a smaller contract for IMS solution to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles, ET had reported earlier this year.
VoLTE allows an operator to offer both voice and data without switching between bands, with voice being just another application that rides on an LTE data network, a technology that newcomer Reliance Jio has adopted. Airtel currently offers calling on the legacy circuit-switch technology.
Reliance Jio: Airtel to counter Reliance Jio with a big bang VoLTE launch, awards $60-mn nationwide contract to Nokia - ET Telecom
