Bharti Airtel has selected STL to build an optical fibre network for Airtel across 10 telecom circles.

This optical network will enable Airtel to improve customer experience through enhanced scalability, reduced latency, and improved bandwidth. The fiberized network will also form the foundation for many next-gen services such as 5G, FTTH, IoT, enterprise networks, and Industry 4.0.

Airtel has 304,907 Rkms of optical fiber across India. Airtel incurred capital expenditure (Capex) of Rs 973 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 primarily on account of expansion of high speed fiber.

STL will use its deployment solution – LEAD 360o – that comes with features like robotics cable blowing and AI bots along with a pre-integrated suite of optical fibre, cable, network design, and integration services. This solution will create multiple efficiencies, enable faster launch readiness, and enhanced network quality for Airtel.

Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel, said: “This 5G-ready and high capacity network will enable us to provide faster delivery of new services, while delivering an enhanced user experience.”

KS Rao, CEO – Network Services and Software, STL, said: “The need for dense fiberization shall continue to grow on the back of investments in 5G, FTTH, data centres, and next-gen digital networks.”