India ‘very rapidly’ developing its own 5G technology stack: Ashwini Vaishnaw
India is “very rapidly progressing on developing" its own 5G technology stack, Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said, adding that no country can match the level of trust India can bring in.
"We are very rapidly progressing on developing our own 5G technology stack. There is a huge interest among the whole world community in having a good trusted and affordable technology source for telecom because telecom is today the primary consumption point for all digital services. People want a trusted telecom solution. And as you know, the trust which India can bring, no other country can match," Vaishnaw said.
Several nations, including those in the US and Europe, have prohibited Chinese companies from manufacturing 5G telecom equipment. India has also established a procedure for approving reliable telecom equipment for use in local networks.
Ashwini Vaishnaw expressed concern over the shortage of semiconductors in an interview with PTI while outlining the government's plans to deploy 1.25 lakh mobile sites in the BSNL network using locally developed technology gears. He also stated that the first project proposal for the high-tech electronic chips will be approved in the upcoming few months of this year.
The minister claimed that the recently-built indigenous 4G technology stack is now mature, scalable, and can be installed across more than one lakh towers.
"Billions of simultaneous calls have been done on it to test its ruggedness. Our target is to deploy over about 1.25 lakh towers in the coming few months. 2G and 3G equipment have to be replaced by 4G. The only challenge is semiconductor chips that go in radios," Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
According to Ashwini Vaishnaw, the government is currently evaluating the applications for semiconductor plants it received for its ₹76,000 crore Semicon Mission.
"We are in a very advanced stage of evaluation of the applications, which were received in February. I wouldn't like to comment on their status at this point in time. But, we believe that in the coming few months, we should have the first agreement signed this year," he added.
Ashwini Vaishnaw claimed that although the government has only made the E-band spectrum available for linking mobile towers, it can also be used to offer 5G services to consumers.
(With PTI inputs)
Gloss