Airtel is already working to develop industry-specific solutions for its future NB-IoT offering
Indian telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel expects to launch a narrowband internet of things network in the country in the short term, local newspaper the Economic Times reported.
With this move, the telco aims to compete with rival operator Reliance Jio Infocomm, which already has an NB-IoT network being deployed in the Asian nation.
“We have been doing a lot of proof-of-concepts and are now getting ready for NB-IoT. The network’s team has been focusing on this quite a lot and are working together with us towards getting ready for our IoT play,” Airtel’s global chief information officer, Harmeen Mehta, was quoted as saying.
The report also highlighted that IoT will be a big focus area for Airtel for the next 18-24 months. The company is already carrying out in-house development of NB-IoT platforms and industry-specific solutions through its Xlabs, which mainly focuses on IoT development.
Airtel is developing plug-and-play platforms that can be used by its enterprise customers. It is looking for start-ups to develop devices and solutions using its platform, according to the report.
Airtel also said it aims to provide vertical-specific services through its enterprise or B2B business.
“We can’t play a deep role in every sector and with every single solution,” Mehta said, adding that the operator was focusing on certain sectors like energy and utilities, automotive, logistics and asset tracking.
Airtel is in talks with U.S. carrier Verizon for a broad partnership around IoT, according to the report. Once this partnership is officially sealed, Verizon’s global customers will be able to deploy solutions on Airtel’s IoT platforms. Similarly, Airtel customers will have access to Verizon’s IoT platforms in the U.S. market.
Earlier this year, rival operator Reliance Jio Infocomm launched a NB-IoT network in partnership with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. The NB-IoT offering was initially launched in the city of Mumbai. Reliance Jio said it will be gradually deploying the technology across the country.
The NB-IoT network uses Jio’s existing spectrum and base stations and has a new dedicated cellular virtualized IoT core.
Reliance Jio is currently working to develop several use cases for this service including vehicle tracking, smart appliances, smart metering, security and surveillance.
