While India’s 5G race is yet to start, Sunil Mittal-founded Bharti Airtel may have already called it quits due to unreliable ecosystem and high price of 5G spectrum. The company’s CEO Gopal Vittal said that the 5G ecosystem is yet to develop here in this country and moreover, prices suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are way too high. The latter has recommended the auction of around 8,644 MHz of telecom frequencies including those for 5G with the total base price standing at approximately Rs 4.9 trillion.
On the other hand, Mukesh Ambani-led Jio, with its endless pit of money, is already gearing up for 5G race which is to be held next year. The company recently announced that it is expanding its partnership with the US-based wireless tech firm Qualcomm to develop 5G solutions. The two companies have already achieved over 1 gigabits on the Jio 5GNR solution through Qualcomm’s 5G RAN Platforms. The move by Jio comes after its big announcement earlier this year in building its own 5G solution from scratch.
The indigenously made 5G technology will be ready for trials once 5G spectrum is available and once validated in its home country, Jio platforms will be well positioned to be an exporter of 5G technology globally. Jio’s 5G solutions will be built on O-RAN (Open RAN), which unlike its proprietary counterparts, are open sourced, the components of which can be acquired from different vendors.
With this, Jio does not have to necessarily sign contracts with companies offering proprietary networks, and can instead choose the best in the market for acquiring software and hardware components.
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