Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecommunications services provider, and SK Telecom, Korea's largest telecommunications company and a world leader in building cutting edge networks, announced a strategic partnership under which, Airtel will leverage SK Telecom's expertise to build the most advanced telecom network in India.

The partnership will work across several areas including developing bespoke software to dramatically improve network experience, leveraging advanced digital tools including machine learning, big data and building customized tools to improve network planning based on every customer's device experience. The capacity to identify, monitor and deliver improvements to the network experience on an individual device basis will be a first in India, helped by SK Telecom's global leadership in this area.

The two companies will also collaborate on an on-going basis to evolve standards for 50, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Internet of Things (IoT), and jointly work towards building an enabling ecosystem for the introduction of these technologies in the Indian context.

Shares of the company declined Rs 0.9, or 0.22%, to trade at Rs 404.00. The total volume of shares traded was 7,398 at the BSE (10.00 a.m., Wednesday).