Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made the first 5G call on a trial network set up at IIT Madras using indigenously-develop telecom gears. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate the country’s first 5G test-bed, incubated at IIT Madras, to enable startups and industry players to test and validate their products locally and reduce dependence on foreign facilities.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a social media post :
“Aatmanirbhar 5G. Successfully tested 5G call at IIT Madras. Entire end-to-end network is design and developed in India,”.
Ashwini Vaishnaw after making a video call on indigenously develop 5G technology gears, said that it is the realisation of the prime minister’s vision.
Ashwini Vaishnaw Said :
“His (PM’s) vision is to have our own 4G, 5G technology stack, developed in India, made in India and made for the world. We have to win the world with this entire technology stack,” Vaishnaw said after making the call.
The government expects commercial roll-out of 5G services to start in the country by August-September 2022.
Right now, telecom companies have allow to only conduct trial of 5G services.
The 5G test-bed has develop as a multi-institute collaborative project by eight institutes led by IIT Madras.
In the absence of a 5G test-bed, startups and other industry players were require to go abroad to test and validate their products for installation in a 5G network.
The other institutes that participate in the project are IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT).
The test-bed facility will be available at five locations.
