Ericsson sets up India's first 5G innovation lab at IIT-Delhi
Giving Narendra Modi's 5G dream a big push, Swedish Telecommunications Company Ericsson has set up India's first 5G innovation lab at IIT-Delhi. At the launch held yesterday, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said 5G may be a reality in India in next couple of years. He added sectors like agriculture, health, education and disaster management may be first ones where 5G will be used.
The 5G innovation lab is currently demonstrating 5G beam-forming and beam-tracking technologies using 3.5GHz spectrum band. The trials also put Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology to use, using Ericsson's pre-commercial 5G New Radio system. The industry, academia, students, and startups can help the innovation lab come up with 5G-based apps and business-models for better "agricultural yields, healthcare, smarter cities, more efficient manufacturing, etc," Sinha said.
"The 5G 'Center of Excellence' supports the government's plans to foster a robust and vibrant 5G ecosystem in the country. We want India to be an active participant in the design, development and manufacturing of 5G-based technologies, products and apps," Sinha noted.
Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson, echoed Sinha's vision, saying his company is leading 5G standardization globally. The company report states that after 5G-enabled digitization, India's revenue may hit $27.3 billion by 2026. Moreover, if the Indian operators "take up roles beyond connectivity and infrastructure providers" and "become service enablers and creators", an additional revenue of $13 billion will be generated, it added.
Recently, Reliance acquired US telco solutions company Radisys, giving Jio a 5G boost. "This acquisition further accelerates Jio's global innovation and technology leadership in the areas of 5G, IoT, and open-source architecture adoption," said Reliance Jio Director Akash Ambani earlier this week.
