Airtel Spectrum Holdings
n78 (3300-3670 MHz) primary 5G band. n5 / 850 MHz refarmed for low-band 5G coverage. n3 (1800 MHz) for inter-RAT support.
Airtel NSA Architecture
NSA Option 3x: LTE anchor on existing Airtel LTE network + 5G NR data on n78. UE camps on LTE; data-plane traffic offloaded to NR.
Vendor Mix
Airtel uses Ericsson and Nokia 5G RAN equipment + Mavenir for cloud-native components. Each vendor has slightly different MO model, KPI naming, optimization workflow.
PHY-Layer Considerations
EN-DC: split-bearer config with PDCP at LTE eNB (Option 3x) requires careful HARQ timing alignment between LTE and NR. Cell anchor-and-NR-leg ratio tuning is a daily task.
SA Migration Path
Airtel announced SA migration plans. Migration involves: dual-mode UE support, 5G core (5GC) deployment, NSA-only sunset planning. PHY-layer changes minimal; signaling and core architecture different.
Engineer Skills Profile
EN-DC dual connectivity expertise, multi-vendor optimization, hands-on with Ericsson ENM + Nokia NetAct. Strong RAN sharing knowledge (Airtel shares some sites with other operators).