The collaboration will allow Airtel to smoothly transition to a commercially live, full-scale 5G standalone network over time, delivering the advanced capabilities of 5G to its customers.

As part of this agreement, Ericsson will deploy its signaling controller solution within Bharti Airtel's network. Additionally, Ericsson's 5G standalone-enabled charging and policy solution will be introduced. These advancements strategically enhance Bharti Airtel's 5G monetization efforts, facilitating the development of new business models.

Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, says, “Ericsson's enduring partnership with Airtel has entered an exciting new phase, marked by the deployment of Ericsson's 5G Core solutions to support Airtel's transition to 5G Standalone. This rollout will play a pivotal role in Airtel's longterm 5G strategy, boosting network capacity and enabling the delivery of innovative, differentiated services to customers.”

Andres Vicente, Head of Market Area Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India, Ericsson, says, “As a global 5G leader, Ericsson is committed to providing Bharti Airtel its latest technology solutions. This deployment is a significant step towards making Bharti Airtel’s network 5G standalone ready and future proof. Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G core enables monetization through network slicing-based services and network API exposure, unleashing new, innovative use cases for consumers and enterprises.”

Bharti Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 550 million customers in 15 countries across South Asia and Africa.

The company's consolidated net profit surged to Rs 14,781.20 crore in the quarter ended December 2024 as against Rs 2,442.20 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2023. Sales rose 19.08% to Rs 45,129.30 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Q3 FY24.