Bharti Airtel has signed a new agreement with Ericsson to bolster its Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services in India, leveraging Ericsson’s core network portfolio.
The partnership aims to enhance Airtel’s core capabilities and capacity for FWA, thereby improving customer experience and supporting the telecom operator’s 5G expansion goals. Financial detials were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, Ericsson is introducing a next-generation platform that delivers higher capacity with a smaller physical footprint and improved total cost of ownership. This builds on their earlier collaboration involving Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core solution, which laid the foundation for Airtel’s 5G Standalone (SA) network.
Airtel’s strategy centers on meeting surging data demand and delivering consistent network performance under peak loads. By integrating Ericsson’s innovative Packet Core deployment architecture, Airtel is strengthening its infrastructure to support seamless connectivity and high reliability.
India has 5G FWA subscriber-base of 6.77 million during January-March 2025. Top five broadband (wired + wireless) service providers in term of subscribers are Reliance Jio 476.58 million, Bharti Airtel 289.31 million, Vodafone Idea 126.41 million, BSNL 34.57 million and Atria Convergence 2.29 million, according to TRAI.
Ericsson’s Local Packet Gateway (LPG), a key innovation in this deployment, is designed to provide efficient, scalable, and high-performance support for Airtel’s 5G FWA initiatives. The solution plays a vital role in Airtel’s strategy to monetize 5G and bridge the digital divide across India.
This development marks another milestone in the 25-year partnership between Airtel and Ericsson, reinforcing their joint commitment to accelerating India’s digital transformation through next-gen network technologies.
