Airtel announces 5G ready platform to fuel 'World of Connected Things'

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced an integrated platform that enables enterprises to leverage the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and gear up for the emerging era of 'connected things'.

'Airtel IoT' is an end-to-end platform with the capability to connect and manage billions of devices and applications in a highly secure and seamless manner, the company said in a statement.

As per estimates, India's cellular connectivity-based IoT market is forecast to grow to Rs 10,000 crore by 2022, driven by connected cars and appliances, SMART factories and utilities, and other use cases.

''Enterprises have three key requirements for IoT. First, connectivity solutions that future proof their device and application investments. Second, the security of their data,'' Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO of Airtel Business said.

The third requirement is seamless integration with existing IT systems to make the IoT data actionable, Chitkara said, adding that the latest offering by Airtel is built on these insights to ''massively simplify the IoT journeys of enterprises''.

At its very core is Airtel's 5G Ready network that comes with the option to deploy NB-IoT (NarrowBand-Internet of Things), 4G or 2G connectivity using Airtel e-SIM technology.

It also has a flexible set of APIs (application programming interface) to eliminate cumbersome integration journeys and allows enterprises to streamline the process of connecting, collecting, and analysing data through their existing workflow tools.

Notably, Airtel's telco-grade security would help enterprises ensure that their IoT data is safe and available in real-time for analytics and service delivery, according to the company.

MG Motor, Pine Labs, Paytm, Kirloskar, BSES, Genus, and Kent are among the many businesses across manufacturing, logistics, automobiles, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance space) and utilities that are already using Airtel's IoT solutions.

''Airtel Business is the largest player in India's B2B (business-to-business) connectivity space and serves over 2,500 large enterprises as well as one million medium and small enterprises, including startups,'' the telecom operator said.

On Airtel IoT and how it is enabling transformation, Rajeev Chaba, President and MD of MG Motor India said, ''With the help of Airtel IoT, we have been able to provide the customers with India's first internet car having i-SMART technology and 60 plus connected car features. Airtel IoT allows us to access real-time infotainment and telematics''.