Airtel bags Tech Mahindra private 5G network order at auto unit

Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra announced a strategic partnership under which they have deployed ’5G for Enterprise’ solution at Mahindra’s Chakan manufacturing facility, making it India’s first 5G enabled auto manufacturing unit, the company announced in an exchange filing.

The ‘5G for Business’ solution has significantly enhanced Chakan’s network connectivity that has resulted in improved speeds for software flashing, a critical operation for all vehicular dispatches. Blazing hi-speeds and ultra-low latency now allows managers to undertake multiple software flashing sessions in parallel, which has resulted in reduced turn-around time for an operation. Further, the computerized vision based inspection is now fully automated resulting in improved paint quality. The company has been testing use cases and spectrum delivery with multiple partners and at several locations as a part of its #5GforBusiness offerings.

Adani Group, TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech are also expecting to see traction here. They see a huge opportunity in the field of private networks, which would open an entirely new revenue stream for them.

Extracts from recent Earnings calls:
“With 5G in manufacturing, the industry 4.0 principles can actually become a reality. You would need the applications, you would need the private network, so that you could connect internally as well as connect meaningfully with the ecosystem that you are building, so we are looking at all those opportunities,” N Ganapathy Subramaniam, chief operating officer of TCS, had said at the company’s post-earnings briefing for the July-September quarter.

“We see a huge amount of traction in this (5G) business as we look forward, so it’s one of the growth drivers.” Under private networks, corporates can set up their own WiFi and data network instead of taking services from any telecom service provider as is the norm today. Such networks can help health care chains connect their different centres via high-speed data, through which they can conduct remote surgery and similar functions which require low latency. Similarly, automobile manufacturers can connect their centres across the country and move to much faster digital operations, “ Infosys CEO Salil Parekh had said.

Speaking about the Airtel- Tech Mahindra partnership, Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO, Airtel Business, said, ” We are thrilled to partner Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Auto to demonstrate this transformation and have made the Chakan manufacturing facility India’s first 5G enabled Auto Manufacturing Unit. As the industry 4.0 paradigm gathers momentum, reliable data networks will prove to be a key differentiator in factory & manufacturing performances.”

Manish Vyas, President, Communications, Media and Entertainment Business, and CEO, Network Services, Tech Mahindra, said, ”Our collaboration with Airtel is aimed at enhancing customer experience through digitally powered new-age platforms and solutions. We are confident that this partnership will help unlock opportunities across industries to improve productivity, drive intelligent network-led enterprise digitalization, and spur innovation.”

CT Bureau