Airtel, Huawei India tie up to deploy Massive MIMO

New Delhi: Huawei Telecommunications India on Wednesday said it has tied up with Bharti Airtel for the deployment of Airtel`s Massive MIMO -- an integral component in India`s roadmap to 5G deployment -- in Bengaluru.

The company said the Massive MIMO solution can potentially increase spectrum efficiency by five to seven times, enhancing intensive coverage and user experience.

"As India goes digital, there is an unprecedented rise in demand for higher network speeds to feed data hungry mobile applications. Massive MIMO is the best technology to boost spectrum efficiency and is one of the key solutions for Huawei`s 4.5G/5G evolution," the company said in a statement.

Massive MIMO can help operators greatly enhance wireless network capacity and user experience by optimising existing sites and spectrum resources, it added.

Abhay Savargaonkar, Director - Networks, Bharti Airtel, said: "We have partnered Huawei for the deployment of our latest technological advancement - Massive MIMO, the first step towards 5G."

"As India strides towards exponential and unprecedented data growth, we are now better equipped to serve this growing demand with a strategic advantage to provide faster speeds and enhanced user experience to customers," said Savargaonkar.

The statement said Huawei`s Massive MIMO features an active antenna unit design that integrates radio and antenna components for reliability and ease of project implementation.

According to the company, the solution adopts large-scale antenna arrays that are able to control the width and tilt, both vertical and horizontal, for 3D beamforming.

"This feature is complemented by channel estimation and advanced algorithms to allow Massive MIMO to empower several terminals to reuse time-frequency resources for improved network capacity," it added.

"Huawei`s Massive MIMO can greatly improve 4G network spectral efficiency and help effectively handle any capacity challenges encountered during rapid mobile development, which India is experiencing at the moment," said Jay Chen, Chief Executive of Huawei India.

"This partnership with Bharti Airtel, India`s largest telecom services provider, will help steer towards an important direction for the further development and future of 5G evolution in the country," Chen added.