Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications services provider in India, has announced its partnership with Secure Meters to deploy Narrow Band (NB-IoT) services to power smart meters for 1.3 million homes in Bihar. This deployment will be the first NB-IoT solution in India that will work on a narrow band with a fall-back option on 2G and 4G, ensuring the uninterrupted transfer of critical data in real time.
Also Read: Airtel IQ, Network Integrated CPaaS Solution Explained
Narrow Band - IoT
NB-IoT is a low-power, wide-area radio network technology developed by 3GPP that enables a wide variety of IoT devices and services, including smart meters. The partnership will strengthen Airtel's position as the largest cellular IoT player in the country.
According to Bharti Airtel, IoT is one of the fastest-growing business segments for Airtel Business, and this venture into NB-IoT strengthens its credentials in the sector. Airtel looks forward to being an active player in India's energy transition and place it as a partner of choice for Discoms looking to invest in smart meters.
Also Read: Bharti Airtel IoT Integrated Platform Explained
Airtel's NB-IoT platform
According to the statement, Airtel's NB-IoT platform is future-ready and scalable to 5G. Its advanced IoT platform, The Airtel IoT Hub, has been customized to suit the needs of Advance Metering Infrastructure Service Providers (AMISPs). Other functionalities include customer lifecycle management and advanced analytics tools.
PAN India NB-IoT Network Presence
Airtel's network is ready for pan India NB-IoT deployment and is designed for superior coverage to address the specific needs of the IoT market. The partnership with Secure Meters will enable Airtel to continue to lead in the cellular IoT space and help India's energy sector transition to a smarter and more sustainable future.
