April 10, 2019
The deal will deploy the Ericsson Cloud VoLTE solution, an industrialized solution to deliver VoLTE services onto a customer data center
India, with a subscriber base of over 1.2 billion, is in the need of improved coverage and stronger mobile and data network connectivity
A six-fold rise in Government spending on telecom infrastructure and services to US$8.4 billion between 2014-19 has aided market growth
Telecommunication plays a critical role in supporting education, agriculture, poverty eradication, disaster preparedness and financial inclusion
Ericsson, a Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer, has been contracted by Bharti Airtel (Airtel), one of India’s leading telecommunications firms, to expand its VoLTE (voice over LTE) services in India. The deal, announced on April 10, will deploy the Ericsson Cloud VoLTE solution, an industrialized solution to deliver VoLTE services onto a customer data center. It will enable high-definition voice (HD voice) and modern communication services experiences across many types of devices, over LTE, Wi-Fi, and future 5G access. India is the second-largest telecommunications market in the world with a subscriber base of 1.2 billion, and has registered strong uptake on the back of improving affordability and awareness.
The market, which has seen some of the world’s fastest uptakes of mobile and internet services, is in the need of improved coverage and stroger network connectivity. India is expected to have more than 780 million VoLTE subscriptions by 2023, as per the June 2018 Ericsson Mobility Report. VoLTE technology will also serve as the foundation for enabling 5G services in the near future. Owing to the promises, India attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$6.2 billion during the financial year 2017-18 – a nearly five fold jump from 2015-16. Beyond commercial endpoints, telecommunication plays a critical role in supporting education, agriculture, poverty eradication, disaster preparedness and financial inclusion.
The National Telecom Policy 2018 has envisaged investments worth US$100 billion in the sector by 2022. Meanwhile, telecom equipment sales in India is expected to grow to more than US$26 billion by 2020. Increasing application technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, blockchain and cloud computing in information and communications technology (ICT) space has also offered a variety of opportunities. A six-fold increase in Government spending on telecom infrastructure and services across the country to US$8.4 billion between 2014-19 has helped with this growth. This has also led to India featuring the lowest mobile internet data prices in the world.