Nokia and Bharti Airtel complete successful 5G NSA Cloud RAN trial in India

Core Insights - Nokia has successfully completed its first 5G non-standalone (NSA) Cloud RAN trial with Bharti Airtel in India, marking a significant milestone in Airtel's network evolution [2][3][4] - The trial aims to enhance customer experience through high-performing networks, offering increased service innovation, automation, flexibility, and efficient resource scaling [2][3][4] Group 1: Trial Details - The trial utilized 3.5 GHz spectrum for 5G and 2100 MHz for 4G, achieving a throughput of over 1.2 Gbps with commercial user devices [7] - Nokia's RAN Software was employed for virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Centralized Unit (vCU) on x86 hardware, incorporating a Container as a Service (CaaS) layer [7] - The trial demonstrated enhanced power efficiency through Nokia's L1 acceleration, supporting the anyRAN benefits of a hybrid network [7] Group 2: Strategic Implications - The successful trial supports Airtel's ambition to integrate advanced technologies into its network, enhancing customer experiences [4][9] - Nokia's anyRAN approach allows operators to evolve towards a hybrid RAN environment, combining Cloud RAN and purpose-built RAN deployments for consistent performance [8][9] - This partnership is expected to drive efficiency, innovation, and scalability in Airtel's network evolution [9][10]