BENGALURU: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Friday successfully conducted trial runs for the Fifth Generation mobile network (5G) at MG Road Metro Station. It is the first station in the country to conduct trials for the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI).
An official release said the trial revealed the speed to be 50 times faster than 4G. “Preliminary bandwidth trial has 1.45 Gbps download, and 65 Mbps upload speeds,” the release said.
BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez told TNIE, “We had been working on it with TRAI for nearly three months, with equipment installation done by Reliance Jio. By 11am Friday, we completed the trial successfully. It is a matter of pride that the city is facilitating TRAI in its move to bring in 5G in the country.”
The system, comprising Outdoor Small Cells and Distributed Antenna System, was installed by Reliance Jio from July 5, and testing was carried out on July 22, the release said. “The ODSC radiated signal will cover a 200-metre radius,” it said.
Parwez said that unlike the 4G model which required huge towers, 5G required small structures but more numbers. “We can instal them at depots, stations and the viaduct too. It will be a revenue source for BMRCL as we will charge the network provider for using our space while they would be able to spread their reach among more customers,” he said. Commuters on the entire Metro network could benefit when it is installed across the network, the MD said. The ongoing trial at MG Road will go on for some time, he added.