On Monday, the world's largest social networking platform Meta Platforms and Bharti Airtel together announced plans to invest in telecom infrastructure to meet India's growing demand for high-speed internet and digital services.
The announcement follows telecom operators' demands for revenue sharing with service providers so they can construct networks.
According to the release, "Airtel and Meta will jointly invest in global connectivity infrastructure and CPaaS-based new-age digital solutions to serve the rising demand of users and companies in India."
As part of the partnership, Airtel will work with Meta and STC (Saudi Telecom Company) to connect India to the 2Africa Pearls undersea cable system, which is currently the longest subsea cable system in the world.
Meta revealed their intention to expand 2Africa Pearls to India in September 2021.
In order to improve their submarine network portfolio, Airtel and Meta will take up dedicated capacity and extend the cable to Airtel's landing station in Mumbai.
The 2Africa cable, according to the release, "would greatly increase India's cable capacity and enabling global hyper-scalers and enterprises to construct innovative integrated solutions and give a high-quality seamless experience to clients."
Within its CPaaS platform, Airtel will also incorporate WhatsApp from Meta. Businesses may now leverage WhatsApp and reach to offer omnichannel client interaction to companies thanks to this connection.
"We at Airtel are excited to strengthen our cooperation with Meta in order to support India's digitally connected economy by utilising the infrastructure and technological advantages of both businesses. We are investing in vital and cutting-edge connectivity infrastructure with our contributions to the 2Africa cable and Open RAN, which is required to meet the rising demand for high-speed data in India "Vani Venkatesh, CEO of Bharti Airtel's global business, stated.
The Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Open RAN project group includes Airtel and Meta as members. Through the use of sophisticated analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning models, Airtel will assist in enhancing Open RAN's operational efficiency and facilitating energy management and automation in radio networks.
The statement added Airtel would commercially deploy the solution across many locations in India over the following several quarters. Airtel is presently conducting trials for 4G and 5G Open RAN solutions on select sites in the state of Haryana.
Francisco Varela, vice president of mobile partnerships at Meta, stated, "We look forward to continuing our relationship with Airtel to further enhance the region's connectivity infrastructure and allow a better network experience for people and companies across India."
