CHENNAI: The Union government’s Department of Telecommunications on Tuesday approved applications for conducting highly-awaited 5G technology trials from companies including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and MTNL. 5G technology is expected to deliver ten times better download speed than that of 4G.
While the DoT’s statement says that the permissions given by the DoT are as per the “priorities and technology partners identified by the telecom service providers (TSPs) themselves”, the fact remains that no Chinese technology partner will be participating in these trials.
The list of telecom gear makers approved for trials include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, C-DOT and Reliance Jio’s indigenously developed technologies. The duration of the trials, at present, is for a period of 6 months. This includes a time period of 2 months for procurement and setting up of the equipment, DoT said in a statement.
“The trials will reduce the time gap between 5G spectrum auction and roll out of the networks. In the past, trials happened after auction, however, now we will be gaining time and telecom operators will be prepared in advance for the 5G network. They will be able to choose their vendors, technology and type of equipment,” said Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash.
The permission letters also specify that each TSP will have to conduct trials in rural and semi-urban settings too, to ensure that the benefit of 5G proliferates across the country and not just in urban areas.
“BSNL will conduct trials separately. Their applications will come soon,” Prakash said.
The presence of Chinese telecom companies in 5G trials had been a matter of controversy over the past year. While initially, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea had submitted proposals to carry out trials using Chinese firm Huawei, they had later submitted separate applications with no Chinese partners.
COAI hails move
Telecom industry body COAI said that the government’s decision to start exhaustive 5G trials in across India will stimulate the local R&D ecosystem to develop innovative applications