Bharti Airtel, at the ongoing India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2018 has showcased a wide range of upcoming digital technologies and futuristic products based on 5G and Internet of Things platforms. Airtel stated that the showcase is part of the company's Airtel 3.0 vision under which it's aiming to build networks and services that enrich the lives of customers by enabling advanced digital experiences. At the IMC, Airtel displayed 5G network experience (speed and latency comparison with 4G) and several use cases for homes and enterprises. These use cases demonstrate the key benefits of 5G networks - massive capacity, ultra-low latency and the ability to serve a very large number of concurrent users.
At the IMC, Airtel demonstrated use cases such as Connected Home, Connected Car, virtual reality-based 360-degree content and so on. Furthermore, Airtel 3.0 also makes sure that the company offers its best for Digital India. Already, Airtel has set up Airtel X Labs in Bengaluru to work on various new technologies such as AI, IoT, AR and VR. Read on to know more about what's Airtel planning with Airtel 3.0.
Airtel Connected Home
By leveraging advanced Home IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, at the IMC, Airtel has showcased a life-size replica of a modern connected home with intelligent devices and appliances. The Airtel Connected Home is powered by a ‘1Gbps V-Fiber’ link to enable a seamless digital experience. For the unaware, V-Fiber is Airtel's wired broadband service and the telco is currently providing 300 Mbps broadband plan to its customers.
The connected home also showcased Airtel’s upcoming Android DTH STB, which brings the world of digital content to the home and will act as the home IoT gateway- similar to how Jio GigaFiber works. The craze for content in India is increasing with every passing day and Airtel wants to take advantage of the same. Airtel demonstrated its in-house developed multi-screen video platform for seamless content play across devices.
Airtel Connected Car
The Airtel Connected Car use case demonstrates how IoT can empower drivers through auto telemetry, which will capture and push data related to key parameters of the car and its functioning in real time.
Augmented Reality Based Holographic Communication on 5G
In yet another India first, Airtel in partnership with Huawei demonstrated AR based Holographic Communication for 5G. Using the Holographic Communication, users feel fully immersed when communicating with a live hologram. AR technology is especially relevant in the Indian context presenting immense possibilities in use cases of AR assisted Learning & Training, Gaming, Live Events and Entertainment.
Virtual Reality Based 360-degree Content
In partnership with Nokia, Airtel demonstrated Virtual Reality based 360-degree content like undersea experience that can be streamed in a 5G live environment. In addition to this, Airtel and Huawei demonstrated another Virtual Reality with virtual iPad, where users can play common games like “candy crush saga” on “virtual screen” using Oculus.
Next-gen BVLOS Autonomous Drones
Airtel in partnership with Ericsson showcased Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) autonomous drones for “next generation e-delivery” services over 5G networks. Under this use case, Airtel demonstrated how autonomous drones, which are akin to self-driving cars in the sky, can be leveraged for mission-critical applications such as disaster response & monitoring, emergency delivery services and remote surveillance of critical infrastructure by leveraging the high bandwidth and the ultra-low latency of 5G networks. These self-driving drones will be able to reach locations quickly and accurately without the assistance of remote based piloting.
Airtel for Digital India
Under Airtel 3.0, Airtel is also working towards the Digital India programme. It's already known that Airtel has set up Airtel X Labs in Bengaluru with the aim of driving innovation in the areas of AI, IoT, AR and VR and is building a world-class team for the facility. Airtel aims to build use cases for India and the world out of this facility.
Furthermore, Airtel Business, the B2B unit of Airtel, has started rolling out innovative integrated digital solutions for enterprises, from large corporates to startups. From secure connectivity to the cloud, data centre services, enterprise IoT and more Airtel Business is enabling digital transformation across corporate India.
Additionally, Airtel Payments Bank is contributing to financial inclusion and banking for all vision by taking digital financial services to every corner of the country.
