Bharti Airtel will deploy a multi-access edge computing (MEC) platform across 120 network data centers in 20 cities in India as the country prepares to roll out 5G commercial services later this year.
Powered by IBM Cloud Satellite and Red Hat OpenShift, the platform aims to improve business performance and customer experience by reducing latency while meeting data security and sovereignty requirements.
According to Airtel, the business value delivered by edge computing can be significantly increased when combined with 5G, which is expected to have a cumulative economic impact of US$1 trillion in India by 2035.
The telecoms company, which has the largest network of edge data centers in India under its Nxtra brand, said it will leverage its collaboration with IBM “to help Indian companies meet their critical business needs more efficiently, making it significant for businesses.” it becomes easier to process workloads where their data resides”.
Initially, engineering teams from IBM and Airtel will create use cases leveraging Airtel’s 5G connectivity and IBM’s hybrid cloud capabilities. IBM Consulting will lead systems integration for the MEC platform.
Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest passenger car manufacturer, is already planning to use the Edge platform to increase the accuracy and efficiency of factory quality inspections. It also expects to improve quality control and ensure data stays protected at the edge.
“At Maruti Suzuki we continually strive to meet the highest quality standards by ensuring our processes and quality controls are well above industry standards. Technology is a key factor on this journey, helping to increase quality and efficiency, and to deliver the next-generation user experience,” said Rajesh Uppal, Senior Executive Director for HR and IT at Maruti Suzuki.
“We are excited to partner with Airtel Business and IBM to raise the bar even further and explore the tremendous possibilities of using AI and analytics at the edge to expand the expertise of our workforce,” he added.
Howard Boville, IBM Cloud Platform leader, said that as organizations, particularly in regulated industries, modernize their infrastructures, they need to be able to do so in a way that allows them to remain compliant without violating their compliance – Obligations to be overloaded – no matter where your data resides.
“Working with Airtel to bring IBM’s hybrid cloud offerings to their Indian multi-access edge computing customers will help them capitalize on 5G and edge opportunities such as: B. Innovate with greater speed and security,” he added.
Airtel is working with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to build its 5G network in India after the company successfully bid to acquire 5G spectrum in last month’s $19 billion 5G spectrum auction in India. Airtel spent approximately $5.4 billion on 19867.8MHz spectrum in the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz frequencies.
According to research by Ericsson, 5G will enable Indian telecom companies to generate $17 billion in additional revenue from businesses by 2030. Much of this is expected to be driven by 5G adoption in manufacturing, energy and utilities, ICT and retail.
