Wireless Networks

Can India develop its own disaggregated 5G RAN?

Can India develop its own disaggregated 5G RAN?

India’s Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has signed a consortium agreement with industry partners for the collaborative development of a disaggregated 5G radio access network (5G RAN) solution.

C-DOT is the main telecom R&D centre of India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT). It signed the consortium agreement with local industry partners Lekha Wireless Solutions, Signaltron Systems, Sooktha Consulting and Resonous Technologies, all of which offer expertise in providing radio access network solutions in the 5G and LTE space.

The aim of this agreement, then, is for all involved to collaborate on the development of an O-RAN-compliant disaggregated 5G RAN solution capable of operation in the FR1 and FR2 bands for public and private 5G networks.

C-DOT’s role will be to act as a business incubator and facilitator by providing funding and necessary infrastructure for testing, interoperability, field trial, and proof of concept (POC).

There is of course, another aim here: to enhance India’s self-reliance in the 5G space by creating more telecom players in the start-up micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) ecosystem in line with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) drive.

But can India really produce its own disaggregated 5G RAN solution? And will it be commercially viable, both locally and internationally? Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony, Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, C-DOT referred to augmenting Indian intellectual property and enabling India to become a leading global supplier of affordable 5G solutions, so local production and international sales do seem to be among the aims of this initiative.

This agreement is the second initiative under the C-DOT Collaborative Research Program 2022 (CCRP-2022), which was launched to realise the objective of promoting innovation and development of cost-effective indigenous telecom products and solutions. The first, with VVDN Technologies and WiSig Networks, involved the development of 5G Open RAN.



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