Ericsson and Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s leading telecom services provider, today announced their collaboration for building intelligent and predictive network operations. Leveraging on its developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation, Ericsson will support Airtel to proactively address network complexity and boost user experience.

Combining deep domain expertise with advanced technologies like AI and automation, Ericsson managed services provides the performance, reliability, and flexibility to meet the dynamic needs of consumers and enterprises as well as intelligently monitoring and managing networks to drive operational efficiencies.

Ericsson and Airtel are industry leaders in the use of AI and automation, driving the future of network operations. Having completed proof of concept trials, the companies are expanding their co-creation partnership to industrialise AI use cases.

Bradley Mead, Head of Ericsson Network Managed Services, says: “I’m delighted that we are able to innovate together with Airtel which confirms a joint commitment to our long-standing partnership where together we can   showcase what is possible with AI/ML as we transform into a truly data driven operations that will deliver business benefits on a new level.”

Randeep Shekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, says: “Airtel has always been a pioneer in introducing new network technologies to serve customers.  AI / ML will be key to Airtel’s customer experience centric operations management. Our partnership with Ericsson is example of the power of real-world and collaborative innovation. With these initiatives, we would continue to maintain our network differentiation and provide superior customer experience. We look forward to taking this journey together to the next level.”

Ericsson has been Bharti’s managed service partner since 2004 and currently manages Bharti’s PAN India 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, Intelligent Network, LAN/WAN and VOLTE technologies. Airtel mobile customers are benefitting from enhanced network and high-speed broadband services.

More information on Ericsson’s new managed services offering, Ericsson Operations Engine, will be showcased at Mobile World Congress 2019, in Barcelona, February 25-28.