Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 01 | Page 10

NEWS Airtel deploys India’s largest open cloudbased VoLTE network with Nokia software products Most Australians don’t realize mobile data contributes to carbon emissions Nokia has announced that its CloudBandbased software products are powering Bharti Airtel’s (Airtel) Voice over LTE (VoLTE) network in India. The network supports over 110 million customers, making it the largest cloud-based VoLTE network in India and the largest Nokia-run VoLTE in the world. The cloud-based VoLTE deployment allows Airtel to provide its mobile customers faster and more reliable, cost-efficient call connectivity. The solution, which has been deployed to cover all 22 telecom service areas in India, uses Commercial Off-the-Shelf IT hardware with cloud-based Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), which consumes much less power and space compared to the traditional 2G/3G Circuit Switched legacy core. Nokia’s VoLTE solution enables Airtel to free up spectrum by ramping down its 3G network, allowing the operator to utilize the freed-up spectrum to deploy 4G/LTE services for better speed and capacity. As part of its cloudification strategy, Airtel will also deploy Nokia’s CloudBand Infrastructure Software with the aim to create new revenue opportunities for 5G and Internet-connected devices. As a vendoragnostic, multi-technology and multidomain platform, CloudBand will enable Airtel to lay the foundation for 5G networks and deliver new digital services with greater ease, flexibility and agility and ensure a reliable and high-performing network for delivering improved customer experience. New research from Australian telco Belong has revealed only around 8% of Australians realize mobile data contributes to carbon emissions. This is despite mobile data networks in Australia causing in excess of an estimated half a million tonnes of CO 2 every year. As a result Belong has become Australia’s first accredited carbon neutral telecommunications provider – with all operations and services certified ‘carbon neutral’ at no extra cost to its customers. Belong CEO, Ben Burge, said the organization is dedicated to helping Australians understand their ‘carbon thumbprint’, arming the general public with easy steps to help reduce their emissions. “More than half of Australia’s CO 2 emissions are a product of energy use – either directly or as an output from the products and services we use. We don’t see the physical and tangible process which cause these emissions. Therefore, awareness around carbon usage is understandably very low,” said Burge. In a bid to raise awareness, Belong has launched its Carbon Thumbprint campaign including the Carbon Thumbprint App where consumers are able to easily calculate their mobile data carbon effect. “The point of the campaign is to make it easier for people to contribute positively to the environment. By switching to an accredited carbon neutral provider, consumers are turning an everyday habit into a positive change and the app helps them get there,” said Burge. 10 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com