Huawei to supply, manage Bharti Airtel's 4G network in Karnataka

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator by subscribers and revenues, has selected Chinese equipment-maker Huawei to deploy its 4G network (TD LTE) in Karnataka. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, the third contract by Bharti Airtel to network providers for 4G, Huawei will deliver the LTE solution comprising network infrastructure and devices.

''High speed wireless broadband has the potential to transform India, providing a robust platform for building the country's digital economy,'' Sanjay Kapoor, CEO Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia) said.

''According to industry estimates, mobile data traffic in the country will increase nearly 100-fold by 2015 and consumers will stream nearly 600 hours of video content. With the pioneering launch of 4G LTE, Airtel has paved the way for data revolution in the country by being at the forefront of India's telecom revolution once again,'' Kapoor added.

This is the third contract by Bharti Airtel to network providers for 4G services in India. In February, Nokia Siemens Networks was mandated to deploy network and services in Maharashtra circle and another to ZTE for the Kolkata circle.

Bharti Airtel had launched 4G services in April, with the GSM service provider launching services in Kolkata in April. Five companies, including Mukesh Ambani-owned Infotel Broadband, had won broadband wireless access permits in a government auction in 2010.

Besides offering rich data content to the customers in Karnataka, the 4G network will allow subscribers to experience high-speed wireless internet access that can support bandwidth intensive applications, support video streaming and high-definition videoconferencing.

Huawei has partnered with Bharti Airtel in Sri Lanka and part of Bangladesh, and is also the 3G provider in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.