Airtel has implemented two industrial use cases for quality improvement and operational efficiency at Bosch’s facility
Indian operator Bharti Airtel said it has completed a trial of what it claims to be India’s first 5G private network, at the Bosch Automotive Electronics India (RBAI) facility in Bengaluru.
Airtel noted that the 5G private network was built over the trial 5G spectrum allocated by the Department of Telecom (DoT).
Airtel has implemented two Industrial use cases for quality improvement and operational efficiency at Bosch’s manufacturing facility.
Airtel noted that the private network has the capability to manage thousands of connected devices along with delivering multi- GBPS throughput. Through the use of the private network, the Bosch Manufacturing Execution System was able to significantly reduce the time taken for quality assessment through Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) of surface mounted devices. The process was made efficient by ensuring faster transfer of data over highly reliable and secure network to an AI/ML server for real-time decision making by Bosch Manufacturing Execution System (MES), according to the operator.
Airtel’s 5G private network also helped Bosch shop floor managers and operators identify and resolve issues in real time, thus reducing the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) and Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO at Airtel Business, said: “Airtel is committed to India’s digital transformation and supporting the development of its enterprise as they seek to acquire global scale. We believe that Airtel has the world class infrastructure, partnerships and expertise to deliver Captive Private Network Solution in any part of the country and to enterprise of any size.”
Subhash P, head of technical functions at Bosch Automotive Electronics India, said: “The low latency and reliable connectivity provided by the Airtel Private 5G network at our facility which was experienced during the proof of concept is enabling us to enhance our efficiency and our productivity. Usage of 5G will significantly reduce IT wired infrastructure and enhance the operational efficiency.”
Last week, India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) confirmed that it had received applications from Adani Data Networks, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel for participation in upcoming 5G auction.
The 5G auction is scheduled to start on July 26.
The government of India previously confirmed that the much-awaited 5G spectrum auction will offer frequencies in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz frequency bands. The government also confirmed that there will not be a mandatory requirement to make upfront payments by the successful bidders. Payments can be made by winning bidders in 20 equal monthly installments. In case they opt for upfront payment, a moratorium of two years is offered.
The government has also decided to allow enterprises to deploy and run private networks. These firms will be able to acquire spectrum directly from the DoT to set up networks to test and build Industry 4.0 applications such as machine-to-machine communications, IoT and artificial intelligence. The Indian government said it decided to enable private networks with the aim of supporting a new wave of industrial applications in sectors such as automotive, healthcare, agriculture and energy, among others.
