India’s telecom minister believes that the indigenously developed 5G technology could land deals globally as telcos outside look for trustworthy telecom network technology.
The indigenous 5G stack is being developed by a consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and state-run C-DoT.
“We are very rapidly progressing on developing our own 5G technology stack. There is a huge interest among the whole world community in having a good trusted and affordable technology source for telecom because telecom is today the primary consumption point for all digital services. People want a trusted telecom solution. And as you know, the trust which India can bring, no other country can match,” Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was quoted as saying by India’s newswire service PTI.
State-run telco BSNL will soon deploy the TCS-CDoT-led consortium’s 4G technology.
The minister said the locally-developed 4G stack is “mature and scalable” and can be deployed over more than one lakh towers in the country.
He informed the newswire service that “billions” of simultaneous calls were made on the network to test its ruggedness.
“Our target is to deploy over about 1.25 lakh towers in the coming few months. 2G and 3G equipment have to be replaced by 4G. The only challenge is semiconductor chips that go in radios,” Vaishnaw said.
While sharing the government plans to deploy 1.25 lakh mobile sites in the BSNL network based on indigenously developed technology gears, Vaishnaw, in an interview with PTI, expressed concern over the shortage of semiconductors and said the first project proposal for the high-tech electronic chips would be approved in coming few months this year.
The indigenous 5G technology developed by the TCS-CDoT-led consortium has the potential to win global deals as people worldwide are looking for trusted telecom solutions, and no country can match the level of trust India can bring in, Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.
India expects commencement of 5G services in the August-September period. The auctions will start on July 29.
Vaishnaw said that the government’s decision to open up spectrum in the E-band for backhaul network will help 5G services in the country.
The regulator, TRAI, will publish recommendations on the allocation of spectrum in the E-band.
Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea previously urged India to allocate the E-band spectrum through auction, while internet firms asked for the release of spectrum through an administrative route.
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