Airtel’s dramatic strategy shift: Developing local 5G gear ecosystem via own R&D and US, Japanese partners

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel is developing 5G network technologies in India through own R&D and in collaboration with local, US and Japanese firms, underlining a dramatic shift in the mobile phone operator’s strategy, which will see it develop its own intellectual property (IP), as against depending on third-party equipment vendors.

A top executive told ET that Airtel is not just developing technology for 5G, home broadband, Internet of Things (IoT) and other wireline products in India, but is also aiming to locally produce the equipment through contract manufacturers like US’s Flex and India’s Tejas Networks.