The deal is thought to be the first in the country to use FDD-LTE technology for rolling out services and Ericsson is rumoured to have signed a similar deal with Idea Cellular.
Chris Houghton, head of region India at Ericsson, told the Economic Times: “We have got a network infrastructure deal from [Bharti Airtel], which includes base stations and other equipment. Though, I can’t comment on specifics of the deal.”
Bharti Airtel and Aircel – the only existing operators offering 4G in India– use TDD-LTE technology for their networks, which has a number of technical limitations and has resulted in the roll out of 4G to only a few cities in India.
FDD-LTE technology is more widely accepted across the globe and the agreement for the technology with Ericsson looks to be a milestone for the Indian marketplace.
India is likely to remain a hive of activity in the 4G space over the next few years, with rival Indian players Reliance Industries and Reliance Group also planning launches of the service.
