Airtel, IBM and Red Hat collaborate on hybrid cloud
Indian telecoms company Airtel announced that it has selected IBM and Red Hat as partners on a new open hybrid cloud network project.
This development comes as part of Airtel’s preparation for integrating next-gen technologies and techniques, such as 5G and edge computing, and is being designed to enhance the overall customer experience of its network through streamlined efficiency.
Augmented by new analytical tools and client services, the new cloud is anticipated to help Airtel automate aspects of its operations and scale its network to the edge, meaning a reduction in latency and an increase in bandwidth availability.
Utilising expertise to address India’s tech needs
The average internet user in India is estimated to use 9.8 GB of data per month, a figure which Airtel predicts will grow by over 70% by 2022. Therefore, adopting a hybrid cloud architecture to deliver a network capable of sustaining this increased volume became a priority.
IBM in conjunction with Red Hat, which it recently acquired, will guide Airtel’s vision with their renowned suite of hybrid cloud solutions and cognitive enterprise capabilities.
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The company will use Red Hat’s OpenStack Platform for its new cloud’s open structure, which it hopes will enable new revenue streams via gaming, media and enterprise services.
“Red Hat is providing innovative open source solutions to help Airtel improve flexibility and reduce development time, so they can stay competitive in the rapidly evolving telecommunications market,” said Darrell Jordan-Smith, Global VP at Red Hat.
“By adopting a more agile approach to network operations based on Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud technologies, Airtel is building a future-ready platform to meet the evolving needs of its customers.”
Similarly, Steve Canepa, Global MD at IBM, stated that the trio would be able to achieve a thoroughly modern network which delivered on utilising AI-powered analytics to drive greater efficiency.
“IBM is a valued collaborator to many of the world’s largest and most innovative communications service providers like Airtel as they transform their networks into open and secure hybrid multi-cloud platforms and prepare for the 5G and edge computing era.”
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