The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to set up a 5G test bed in order to encourage indigenous research and development in 5G telephony in India. The test bed will be anchored by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras.
To achieve their target, the DoT has asked for an amount of Rs 35 crore in order to get the testbed up and running in the next six months.
To boost 5G technology in India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will expectedly urge the Centre to direct telecom companies to carry out research for the latest mobile technology domestically. According to a senior TRAI official, the regulatory committee will offer ease of doing business to telecom companies to carry out indigenous research.
India has traditionally been behind the curve in adoption of mobile technologies, especially in when the global standards for 3G and 4G were being set. Therefore, one of the key objectives behind setting up the high-level forum on 5G was for India to be able to participate in the process being undertaken by the International Telecommunications Union and other important global bodies in setting up of standards for 5G, which is expected to be a key driver of the next phase of technological growth in form of artificial intelligence, internet of things, etc.
The high-level forum will also work towards accelerated deployment of 5G for specific use cases in India, and these will include the development of roadmap related to emerging technologies, testing, and trials. It will also aim to strengthen domestic telecom equipment manufacturing necessary for the technology. As per a presentation prepared by the DoT, the targets set for the forum suggest that local manufacturers should be able to capture 50% of the Indian market and 10 percent of the global market over next five to seven years. The aforementioned DoT official said that the proposed 5G test bed at IIT Madras will play the role of a key enabler for research and development of domestic manufacturing of 5G equipment, reported The Indian Express.
