Bharati Airtel said "Make in India" is a very important part of its 5G implementation in India and is in talks with its partners to produce radio equipment locally.
Bharti Airtel announced yesterday that it has commercially tested 5G in Hyderabad with excellent results. According to a report by ET Telecom, Airtel further said that "Make in India" is a very important part of its 5G launch in India.
The telecom company seeks to acquire 5G network equipment from local manufacturers in the country. Nokia and Ericsson are two of the largest suppliers of radio equipment to the telecommunications company. They agreed to produce 5G radio equipment at their Chennai and Pune facilities respectively, more details on the story to come.
Airtel in talks with suppliers to produce 5G network equipment locally
Randeep Sekhon, Airtel's CTO, said the telecom company is in talks with all of its partners to bring its 5G manufacturing to India. He said that once 5G starts, the company will need locally produced equipment. Airtel is currently in talks with Tejas Networks to manufacture cables and flexible products for 5G equipment based in the United States.
The telecommunications company also asks its partners, such as Ciena, Cisco and Nokia, to manufacture optical and IP products locally. The telecom company is developing its 5G network technologies in India with the help of research and development together with American and Japanese companies.
Developing everything locally will help telecom companies massively roll out their 5G at a lower cost. Plus, you'll have solid control over the technology and equipment supply chain.
DoT has reduced the notification period to 6 months to implement new technologies with Spectrum
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is helping telecom operators implement 5G at a faster rate. According to a PTI report, DoT asked operators to give six months' notice before using spectrum to implement any new type of technology.
Previously, this rule was one year. This meant that for any operator to implement a new technology using spectrum, they had to wait a year after notifying the telecommunications department. As the lead time has been reduced to six months, it will help operators innovate faster and implement new technologies as soon as possible.
There is only a month to go to the spectrum auction and January is drawing to a close. The government has auctioned the spectrum 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500 MHz. Airtel has already demonstrated how it can deliver 5G over radio waves in the 1800 MHz band. So it will be interesting to see how the traders are fighting for the waves in upcoming auctions.
