Reliance Jio has reportedly developed 4G and 5G network equipment in-house as it looks to cut costs and become less dependent on imports.
A representative from Jio told India’s The Economic Times (ET) that the operator has created fully automated cloud-native end-to-end 5G technology. Reportedly, Jio intends to produce this equipment domestically once it has concluded its 5G trials, and has now applied to the Department of Telecommunications to begin this process.
For its 4G voice, Jio sourced equipment from Nokia and Oracle but has reportedly already replaced this with its own equipment as it looks to become self-reliant before launching 5G. Jio used 4G RAN equipment from Samsung and partnered with the vendor to trial 5G in India.
Jio’s parent firm Reliance Industries has been laying the groundwork for the operator to become more self-sufficient with regard to 5G, merging it with 4G developer Rancore Technologies in 2017. Additionally, the parent company acquired software firm Radisys in 2018.
The key suppliers of 5G radio network equipment are Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Samsung and ZTE, but some operator groups are making moves to develop their own gear.
In 2019, Vietnam’s Viettel revealed that it planned to develop its own 5G technology and in January this year the operator claimed to have created a functional 5G base station. However, Viettel has also noted that it will use Ericsson and Nokia as suppliers for its network, suggesting that it does not intend to rely exclusively on its in-house equipment.
