Deployed as part of Airtel’s ongoing network transformation program, Project Leap, the Massive MIMO technology will expand existing network capacity by five to seven times using the existing spectrum, thereby improving spectral efficiency. Customers will now be able to experience two to three times superfast speeds on the existing 4G network. Fifth-generation wireless (5G) is the latest iteration of cellular technology, engineered to greatly increase the speed and responsiveness of wireless networks. With 5G, data transmitted over wireless broadband connections could travel at rates as high as 20 Gbps by some estimates — exceeding wireline network speeds — as well as offer latency of 1 ms or lower for uses that require real-time feedback. 5G will also enable a sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology.Data speeds will now also be seamless, offering enhanced user experience even indoors, in crowded places and high rise buildings. It would enable multiple users and multiple devices to work simultaneously without facing any congestion or experience issues especially at hotspot locations.
Massive MIMO is a key enabler and foundation for technology revolutions to come. It is a pre-5G technology that will make the network future ready for meeting the data demand coming from digital revolution and data explosion in India. Customers can enjoy these faster data speeds on their existing 4G mobile devices without any upgrades or plan change. Massive MIMO deployment uses green technology and thus helps reduce carbon footprint.
Massive MIMO creates 3D beams both on horizontal and vertical planes towards users located within its coverage footprint. This helps in improving coverage and reducing interference across users in different beams, thereby improving signal quality (SINR) by 2-3dB. Serving multiple users by re-using same set of resource blocks (MU-MIMO) with improved signal quality helps in improving user experience, cell capacity and spectrum efficiency.
Airtel recently also announced a strategic partnership with Korean telecommunications service provider SK Telecom to leverage its expertise to build the most advanced telecom network in India. Under this partnership, Airtel and SKT will also collaborate on an on-going basis towards jointly building and enabling an ecosystem for the introduction of evolved technology standards of 5G, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Internet of Things (IoT) in the Indian context.
The high-speed and low latency service will help Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India plan, which seeks to broaden Internet access. 5G offers network management features, among them network slicing, which allows mobile operators to create multiple virtual networks within a single physical 5G network. This capability will enable wireless network connections to support specific uses or business cases and could be sold on an as-a-service basis. A selfdriving car, for example, would require a network slice that offers extremely fast, low-latency connections so a vehicle could navigate in real time. A home appliance, however, could be connected via a lowerpower, slower connection because high performance isn't crucial. The internet of things (IoT) could use secure, data-only connections.
Highlights
New technology will expand existing network capacity by 5-7 times, leading to much faster data speeds and better customer experience
India joins a select group of countries globally to deploy Massive MIMO, marking a major technological leap for the telecom sector in the country
Airtel customers to enjoy faster data speeds on their existing 4G mobile devices without any upgrades or plan change
Starting with Bengaluru and Kolkata, Airtel plans to deploy the technology in other parts of the country