Reliance Jio has started its 5G trials in Mumbai using indigenously developed telecom equipment. The company will be partnering up with other telecom vendors, including Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung, to conduct trials in other parts of the country.
According to an ET Telecom report, Reliance Jio is using spectrum in both mmWave and mid-bands for conducting the trials in Mumbai. A senior executive aware of the matter said that the 5G networks for testing went live quickly as soon as the spectrum was assigned by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Reliance Jio Using Indigenous Equipment for 5G Trials
The executive said that Reliance Jio is using locally manufactured telecom equipment for testing its 5G networks. One of the highlights shared by the executive was that Jio’s 5G trial is much bigger than what its rivals are doing in terms of the number of sites deployed in Mumbai. The executive further said that Jio would soon start the 5G trials in other parts of India as well.
Reliance Jio had applied for conducting 5G trials in Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad. It is worth noting that this development comes just a day after Bharti Airtel announced that it has started testing 5G networks in Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub.
For the unaware, the telecom department had recently allocated spectrum in several frequencies, including 26 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 700 MHz, to the telcos so that they could conduct 5G trials. Bharti Airtel’s 5G network site is operating in the 3500 MHz band, and with that, the telco could deliver a throughput of 1 Gbps speeds.
It is worth remembering that Reliance Jio had already developed an end-to-end 5G stack including 5G radio and core network solutions which the telco will be using in the rollout of its 5G network throughout India. The testing of the 5G radio and core solution proved to be successful for the telco, which will help it in making the next-generation network rollout cost-effective as well.
Jio is also working with other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for ensuring that the 5G device configurations are standardised. Further, Jio is also working with Qualcomm to localise the manufacturing of 5G products and equipment.
