India's Bharti Airtel: Ericsson 5G Core Partnership Drives Network Evolution

Bharti Airtel (Airtel), India's leading telecommunications provider, has strengthened its longstanding partnership with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) by signing a new agreement to deploy Ericsson's 5G Core network offerings. This collaboration will enable Airtel to transition seamlessly to a full-scale 5G Standalone network, bringing advanced 5G capabilities to millions of customers and enterprises across India.

The agreement encompasses packet core, signaling, charging, and policy solutions, representing a strategic enhancement to Airtel's 5G monetization efforts. Ericsson will deploy its Signaling Controller solution and 5G Standalone-enabled Charging and Policy solution, enabling the development of new business models and revenue streams.

Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Bharti Airtel, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership: "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 long-term 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 at Ericsson, highlighted the company's commitment to providing Bharti Airtel with the latest technology solutions: "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."



The partnership between Airtel and Ericsson extends beyond basic connectivity equipment, focusing on the sophisticated "brain" of the network—packet core, signaling, charging, and policy solutions. This deal represents a strategic win for Ericsson in India's competitive 5G infrastructure market, extending their 25-year relationship with Airtel into next-generation core network technology.

The deployment of Ericsson's 5G Core solutions will have a significant impact on Airtel's network capacity and performance in the long term. According to Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel, this rollout will play a pivotal role in Airtel's long-term 5G strategy, boosting network capacity and enabling the delivery of innovative, differentiated services to customers (Ericsson, 2025). This is because the 5G Core solutions provide a more efficient and scalable network architecture, allowing for better handling of increased data traffic and enabling new use cases.

Additionally, Ericsson's dual-mode 5G core enables monetization through network slicing-based services and network API exposure, which can create new revenue streams and enhance the overall performance of the network. Network slicing allows operators to create virtually separated networks with customized performance characteristics over shared physical infrastructure, enabling Airtel to sell "private network" experiences to enterprises without building separate physical networks (Ericsson, 2025). This technology, combined with API exposure, creates potential for new B2B revenue streams in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and smart cities.



In conclusion, the partnership between Bharti Airtel and Ericsson represents a strategic move in India's competitive 5G infrastructure market, enabling Airtel to offer advanced 5G capabilities to its customers and enterprises. The deployment of Ericsson's 5G Core solutions will have a significant impact on Airtel's network capacity and performance in the long term, enabling better handling of increased data traffic, new use cases, and enhanced monetization opportunities. This partnership positions Airtel as a leader in the Indian 5G market, driving network evolution and innovation.