Reliance Jio has reportedly sought the Department of Telecommunications’ approval to conduct lab testing of 5G products that the Mukesh Ambani-led telco has developed on its own, Financial Express reported. Jio will be undertaking the whole process of setting up the network at its premises without the involvement of any third part vendor or technology provider. The DOT is yet to take a call on Jio’s application which was submitted a couple of weeks back.
Jio plans to use non-radiating 5G spectrum to test its 5G products, which it will import from other countries. The report said that the telecom operator need DoT’s approval for both spectrum use and imports. The telecom operator had earlier this year submitted separate applications for 5G field trials. It plans to trial 5G technology and work on use cases with all telecom gear vendors, including Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE.
Reports previously said that Jio had developed its own 5G technology to reduce dependence on foreign vendors and bring cost-related advantages. It has designed its own 5G hardware which it intends to use for 5G trials along with its own IoT equipment for use cases such as security and surveillance using drones, industrial IoT and digitisation in the agriculture sector.
Jio Has a Plan to Make Its 5G Equipment in India Through Third-Party Equipment Vendors
Jio has already developed and deployed its own IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) solution (vIMS) for VoLTE and VoWiFi. The telecom operator’s plan to conduct 5G field trials with multinational vendors is still on. Its rivals Airtel and Vodafone Idea had submitted similar applications with the telecom department to conduct 5G trials. The 5G field trials were supposed to start in March this year, but got postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The DoT, however, were preparing for these trials and had notified guideline to secure trial license. As per its latest guidelines, telcos can pay Rs 5,000 for the trial licence, and spectrum can be provided to licensees depends on necessity and demonstration of technological capabilities.
The government can allocate up to 100 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz band, 400 MHz in the 26 GHz band and other potential millimetre bands, as per the guidelines.
