Airtel ties up with S Korea’s SK Telecom to develop new technology

India's largest telecom company Bharti Airtel Ltd has formed a strategic partnership with SK Telecom where it will leverage the South Korean firm's expertise in improving network experience, machine learning, and big data and provide better customer experience through customised tools.

The two firms will work together to build advanced telecom networks and in developing fifth-generation (5G) technology, Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV), Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Internet of Things (IoT).

The partnership will work across several areas, including developing bespoke software to dramatically improve network experience, leveraging advanced digital tools, including machine learning, big data and building customised tools to improve network planning based on every customer's device experience, Gurgaon-based Airtel stated in a release.

The capacity to identify, monitor and deliver improvements to the network experience on an individual device basis will be a first in India, helped by SK Telecom's global leadership in this area, Airtel said.

The two companies will also collaborate on an ongoing basis to evolve standards for 5G, NFV, SDN and IoT, and jointly work towards building an enabling ecosystem for the introduction of these technologies in the Indian context.

''This partnership will bring a dramatically improved experience to Airtel customers in India by leveraging the expertise of a company that has built one of the best mobile broadband networks in the world,'' the release quoted Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal as saying.

"With SK Telecom's clear and undisputed leadership in technology, this is one partnership that will decisively change the game in India and put the country at par with the most advanced broadband nations in the world,'' Mittal added.

''SK Telecom will work closely with Bharti to achieve new network innovations so as to deliver a greater value to Bharti's customers,'' Park Jung-ho, President and chief executive of SK Telecom, said.