Airtel deploys Open Hybrid Cloud Network with IBM, Red Hat

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has completed the first phase of its Open Hybrid Cloud Network built with IBM and Red Hat’s portfolio of hybrid cloud and cognitive enterprise capabilities.

With this deployment, Airtel’s customers and ecosystem partners will have a flexible foundation to build and deploy innovative applications on the cloud network. They will also gain enhanced performance, availability, automation and scaling, all the way from the core to the network edge, the company said in a statement.

The architecture, which is built on open source technology, including Red Hat OpenStack Platform and Red Hat OpenShift, enables Airtel to manage communications across distributed network environments. This gives Airtel’s customers and ecosystem partners the flexibility to create more targeted, cutting-edge solutions in the cloud or on-premises location of their choosing.

Additionally, the open architecture enables Airtel to embrace open source Radio Access Network (RAN) to improve interoperability for ecosystem partners using RAN equipment, it said.

Once fully implemented, Bharti Airtel’s Open Hybrid Cloud Network will help millions of partners and customers across industries rapidly harness the power of emerging technologies such as 5G and edge computing, the company claimed. For example, a customer could use the network to leverage articifial intelligence, Internet of Things and edge computing capabilities to power applications that can deliver better insights from factory floors or enable remote doctor visits.

Telecom operators worldwide are expected to spend over $111 billion by 2022, upgrading their network cloud and platform. Airtel has been working with IBM to integrate end-to-end advanced automation and plans to embed AI capabilities in the future as a core part of its network transformation.

In this first phase, IBM and Airtel have co-developed a ‘single-click’ automated hybrid cloud design and deployment capability and ‘light-touch’ operations. This will enable Airtel to rapidly improve network connectivity and accelerate its continued core network transformation.

As a result, Airtel will be able to scale to meet increased customer demand, on-board new partners more quickly, and speed the launch of innovative cloud-based services, the company added.