The Department of Telecom on Tuesday approved applications of telecom companies -- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and MTNL -- for conducting 5G trials but none of them will be using technologies of Chinese entities. The list of telecom gear makers approved for trials include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, C-DOT and Reliance Jio's indigenously developed technologies.
The government is planning to roll out 5G testbed in early January to enable small and medium enterprises and other industry players to test their solutions on a working platform, a top Department of Telecom official said on Thursday. For the promotion of 5G indigenous technology, DoT in March 2018, had approved a multi-institute collaborative project to set up an indigenous 5G Test Bed at a total cost of Rs 224 crore. A testbed consists of a specific environment including hardware, software, operating system, and network configuration to test a product or service.
Given the security dilemma prevailing between India and China, India should curb the operation of Chinese telecom companies in India, asserts Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Just a few weeks ago, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw did some tough talking with the senior managers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the ailing state-owned telecom service provider. The message was clear: They had to perform, quit by taking the voluntary retirement package or be compulsorily retired from service. The terse message from an otherwise polite and soft-spoken minister came just days after he announced a second and bigger package of Rs 1.64 trillion as part of a four-year turnaround plan for BSNL.
With India rolling out 5G services, can telcos get the sizeable 350-400 million 2G customers to upgrade to 4G, or even better -- but very improbably -- straight to 5G?
Airtel offers 4G service in 1800 Mhz band frequency while other companies are yet to roll out their services.
Most Indian IT firms work as system integrators for Huawei and though the exposure is very less as of now, the potential is more due to 5G roll out. As pressure to keep the Chinese firm out of the 5G network grows, other global firms, including Japan's NEC, South Korea's Samsung, Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericssion are increasing their investments to grab more market share in the telecom sector.
Consumers can expect a 5G launch in the country soon. Telecom companies (telcos) say if auctions take place on time - the target is July - they would be able to offer some services in a few cities by the end of this year and a full roll-out from 2023. But the question is: will 5G turn the tables for telcos financially? Will average revenue per user (ARPU) improve? Will mobile consumers upgrade to 5G quickly and pay more? Will the expanded functions that 5G enables drum up sufficient revenues? In simple terms, will telcos make more money?
Based on industry estimates, telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and BSNL, are expected to invest over $10 billion on buying 5G telecom equipment in the next five years as they transition from non-standalone networks to standalone 5G networks.
Makkonen never received any money from the invention of text messaging, never applied for a patent
Several factors have held India back. One is DoT policy somersaults and lack of clarity on whether to or not to ban Chinese gear makers.
The Tata group's tryst with mobile services, with either CDMA or GSM technology, did not really fly, forcing it to close operations and write off losses. Now the group is back in the big game, this time straddling the telecom equipment, network and technology space in India as well as the global market. To this end, it is leveraging the opportunities that flow from 5G technology through open radio access network, or O-RAN. Recently, the Tata Sons' subsidiary Panatone Finvest acquired 43.3 per cent in Bengaluru-based telecom equipment manufacturer Tejas Network for Rs 1,850 crore and announced it would buy another 26 per cent of the voting capital through an open offer.
The Big Two telecom companies have accelerated their moves towards this next-gen technology, though they have chosen very different routes to getting there.
It has invested $2 billion and spent $200 million on its R&D centre in Bengaluru, the largest such centre outside China where some core technologies are under development.
The 35,000 square foot facility would increase Capgemini's BPO's total capacity in India to over 4,500 seats, the company said.
Reliance is leveraging the technological change of building a virtualised 5G network which would see the current hardware-dependent networks shift to software-centric platforms.
Mobile radio listeners have a new channel for entertainment through visual radio with four companies -- Hutch, Radio Mirchi, Nokia and HP -- announced on Tuesday the rolling out of this service in the country.
Just to promote govt's policy of Make in India, BSNL said, it cannot afford to procure sub-standard equipment from inexperienced companies, not having proven technology. BSNL complained that when competitors were procuring world-class 4G equipment from experienced vendors, why should BSNL be compelled to procure locally.
CanvasM, a joint venture between Tech Mahindra and Motorola, is planning to launch 6,000 new indigenously developed applications for mobile phones.
Close on the heels of striking 3 major outsourcing deals with Ericsson, IBM and Nokia totalling over $1400 million, Bharti Tele Ventures on Thursday awarded another $50 million contract to Siemens to build and manage AirTel networks in 3 circles.
It plans to offer 4G data with voice at rates 15-25 per cent lower than those of its competitors just as it has done with its TV sets. Many say it might be a recipe for disaster.
The network protocol being built by Umesh Chandra of the Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto, California, will also get mobile phones connected to the web via SMS.
HCL Technologies on Monday said its founder Shiv Nadar will take on the role of Chairman Emeritus and Strategic Advisor to the company's board. Nadar, chief strategy officer and managing director of the company, on completing 76 years of age, has tendered his resignation as the MD as well as the Director with effect from close of business hours on July 19, according to a regulatory filing. "In order to continue to benefit from his vast knowledge, experience, and wisdom in an advisory role, the Board of Directors in its meeting held today, after considering the recommendations of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee, has approved the appointment of Shri Shiv Nadar as the 'Chairman Emeritus and Strategic Advisor to the Board' for a term of five years with effect from July 20, 2021," it added.
Zuckerberg is kicking off a tour of Europe on Monday.
The company has said the funds raised will be used to invest in product development and expansion of its fast-growing mobile business.
Huawei came under a cloud after allegations that the firm's electronic and telecom devices helped China spy on US corporations and agencies.
Microsoft has had a rough track record in making big acquisitions pay off.
While moving towards the new technology is compelling and inevitable, powering 5G would also mean massive initial investments for telcos, says Surajeet Das Gupta.
With this acquisition, Airtel will be second company, after Reliance Jio, in the country to have pan-India presence in 2300 Mhz band
Jio announces an array of communication and entertainment devices.
Across the world, there are around 150 trials on 5G currently going on and India has lagged behind. The government has now formed a committee which will look exclusively at developing a model for conducting 5G field trials, reports Kiran Rathee.
After Sheryl Sandberg, it's now the turn of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to visit India, the second biggest market for the social networking giant, later this month.
Nearly six out of 10 post-millennial respondents own a smart phone, but what is remarkable is that the difference in ownership patterns between metros (58.50 per cent) and mini metros (59.36 per cent) is not much with the smaller cities scoring over the larger ones, TCS said in a statement.
Sibal said that Trai had compared India with China.
At least two of them - Lava and Micromax - are arming themselves against the Chinese rivals which made them insignificant in the local market over the past few years.
Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer for electronic goods and makes iPhones for Apple and smartphones for its Chinese rival Xiaomi.
He said that the whole world being robbed of creativity and ideas because so many people in India are not online.
Buying LinkedIn means Microsoft will control the best-known network.
Motorola today launched its first flagship smartphone Moto X, after being taken over by Google, to take on competition from Apple and Samsung.
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