Broadband India Forum gears up to push 5G trials

The BIF said it received proposals for three 5G trials. The companies identified as industry leaders for carrying out first set of 5G trials include Nokia for public safety, Sterlite for manufacturing and Aeris for Internet of Things (IoT).

“We’re very excited that BIF has taken a big step forward by setting the ball rolling for 5G trials with industry leaders such as Nokia, Sterlite and Aeris in the areas of public safety, manufacturing and IoT,” said BIF President TV Ramachandran.

“We expect this to form the bed-rock of commercial use cases built around 5G technology and will help accelerate the growth of our digital economy to meet the stated target of $1trillion by 2022 as enshrined in the National Digital Communications Policy 2018,” Ramachandran added.

For charting a roadmap for the country’s transition to 5G, the government last year set up the “High Level Forum for 5G India 2020” consisting of three ministries, industry stakeholders and experts from different organisation.

The BIF 5G Committee also aims to drive a comprehensive approach to spectrum, infrastructure policies, industry investment, and government support necessary to make India a front-runner in 5G deployment and use.

The government should allocate spectrum of low bands like 700 MHz, 850 MHz for better coverage of 5G technology and higher frequencies for high data rate communication, BIF, which has its head office in New Delhi, said.

The broadband group also announced it will be formulating and releasing a ‘Request for Proposal’ (RFP) by early August for 5G trials under the leadership of C S Rao, President, QuadGen Wireless Solutions Inc and the government’s high-level 5G forum.

The purpose of the RFP will be to spell the scope of the trials and identify spectrum needs, topological requirements and other technical requirements, besides the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder.

The outcomes and feedback of these trials will then be provided to the government to help fine-tune policy aspects, BIF said, adding that the first set of these trials is expected to be completed by end of 2018 or early 2019.

Making a strong comeback, Samsung shipped 9.9 million smartphones in India in Q2 of 2018, registering almost 50 per cent annual growth rate, its best since the Q4 of 2015, Singapore-based market research firm Canalys said. Chinese handset maker Xiaomi also shipped 9.9 mn smartphones and this is the best quarter either vendor has had in the country. Together, the two companies now account for 60 per cent of total shipments in India - up from 43 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, Xiaomi more than doubled its shipments, albeit from a modest base. Another Chinese player Vivo took the third place while Oppo came fourth, with shipments of 3.6 mn and 3.1 mn, respectively. Overall shipments in India grew by 22 pc, to just under 33 mn units