Bharti contracts network supply to Ericcson, NSN, Huawei

India's largest mobile services operator, Bharti Airtel, today said that it has chosen Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies as network suppliers to launch Airtel's 3G Services in India.

The three network equipmenjt providers will plan, design, deploy and maintain a state of the art 3G HSPA Network in Bharti Airtel 3G license circles. Airtel hopes to extend its leadership by catering to the demand for high speed surfing and wireless entertainment in the country.

Bharti has further strengthened its relationship with Ericsson, which will provide equipment for the majority of Bharti's 3G License Circles. Ericsson will thus continue to be Bharti's largest Network Partner across 2G and 3G circles in the country.

Bharti has also expanded its relationship with Nokia Siemens Networks, by contracting it to manage its 3G Network in three circles across the country.

At the same time, Bharti has expanded its supplier base by adding Huawei Technologies as its third partner for offering 3G services in a few circles.

Airtel's 3G services, enabled by the choice of its suppliers will help propel Bharti's mobile broadband, given the enhanced speed and user experience which the 3G technology enables. In addition to being HSPA+ (high speed packet access) ready from launch, Bharti says its 3G network will support user data speeds and enhanced mobile broadband experience.

High Speed Packet Access plus is said to enable high peak user throughputs which are multiple times higher than those supported in current 2G networks.