Bharti Airtel Partners Qualcomm

Bharti Airtel Limited said on Tuesday it will work with United States chipmaker, Qualcomm for 5G services in India, as telecom firms in the world’s second-largest wireless market gear up to usher in the latest generation of wireless networks.

Airtel, placed second to Reliance Industries-owned Jio by subscribers, said in a statement to stock exchanges that it will use Qualcomm’s Radio Access Network platforms, which runs services on the cloud, to roll out 5G networks in the country.

“This collaboration … aims to allow a faster rollout of broadband services … across India for “last mile” connectivity challenges that are becoming increasingly important in today’s remote, mobile-first society,” Reuters quoted the telco to have said.

Although the need for high-speed internet has been highlighted in the pandemic-led work-from-home year, India’s 5G ambitions have been buffeted by delays in auction of airwaves that support the technology.