Mobile Services
We are working to ensure that Indian customers will experience 5G: COAI
NEW DELHI: In a bid to create awareness of India’s capability to launch 5G technology based services at the same time as the rest of the world, if not ahead, COAI, the apex industry body representing the major telecom, internet, technology and digital services companies in the country hosted the India Meeting of international experts on ‘Catalysing 5G in India’ in New Delhi, through its 5G India Forum.
The event was held a week after the plenary meetings in Chennai where the 3GPP executives met and made considerable progress towards finalizing the standards for Non Stand Alone-New Radio (NSA-NR), which allows 5G deployments over existing 4G networks.
The decisions on specifications and standardisations made at the plenary meetings are expected to go a long way in ensuring quick roll-out of 5G technology based services across India and the world. More than 300 delegates from across the globe participated in these meetings with the largest Indian participation, ever. This ascertains that companies working on 5G products are on track for commercialization of 5G services in 2019.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a mobile communication industry collaboration that organises and manages the standards and development of mobile communications standards. It develops standards for many of the mobile communications standards from GSM through UMTS and LTE to 5G now. It is leading this effort with an active and aggressive participation by more than 550 individual member companies. The Indian friends of 3GPP (IF3) is an initiative by the local Indian offices of Ericsson, Intel, and Qualcomm to fund and support the hosting of 3GPP meetings in India.
The event brought together international experts on 5G face to face with Government, mobile network operators and other industry stakeholders and gave them an informal platform to discuss and deliberate crucial issues regarding the new technology and its uses. The executives included Edward Tiedemann, Senior Vice-President, Qualcomm; Lorenzo Casaccia, Vice-President Qualcomm;Puneet Jain, Intel; Ulrich Dropmann, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia; Asbjörn Grövlen, Researcher, Standardization, Ericsson; Abhay Savargaonkar, CTO, Bharti Airtel; P.K. Bhatnagar, President- Technology, RJIO, etc.
“Such an event is fundamental to strengthening the efforts made by 3GPP. Mobile and wireless technology is going to extend massively beyond smartphone applications and is expected to transform societies and industries. The 5G technology evolution is expected to enable new services, connecting new industries, various forms of devices, and empower new user experiences, to support expanded connectivity needs for the next decade and beyond. We will soon see a transformation in the way we live due to 5G and I am glad that India is at the forefront of this change,” said Sundararajan, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications.
“We are pleased with the attention that Department of Telecommunications and COAI are putting towards 5G. We at Qualcomm are committed to work closely with ecosystem in making 5G a reality in India,” said Tiedemann, Senior Vice President-Engineering, Qualcomm Technologies Inc.
Wu, Head, Intel Wireless Standards said, “Intel is proud of our history in helping industries come together to define standards that help revolutionize technologies that transform society. 5G has the potential to be as impactful as any other technology innovation we’ve seen and we have still only taken the first steps for 5G standards. Intel is ready to enable the industry to realize the future of 5G with end-to-end solutions from the network, to the cloud, to the client.”
COAI, recently launched the 5G India Forum, consisting of industry stakeholders. This forum will facilitate cooperation between government and industry in shaping the strategic, commercial, and regulatory development of the 5G ecosystem in India.
“We are working to ensure that Indian customers will experience 5G along with rest of the world. The new standards finalised by 3GPP and this meeting of experts will enable Indian telcos to transition to new technologies while ensuring that the demands of various sectors is well met. COAI’s 5G India Forum and IF3 will continue to work together as the efforts to make 5G specifications for delivery of services across sectors including automobiles, agriculture, logistics, medicine and health gain momentum and the Telecom Service Providers come closer to providing services across sectors which is vital to enable them achieve Digital India.” Said Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI.
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, India’s telecommunications services provider, today announced the launch of its ultra-fast 5G services in 125 cities. Airtel 5G Plus service is now available to customers in over 265 cities in the country.
Airtel 5G Plus has three compelling advantages for customers. First, it runs on a technology that has the widest acceptance in the world with the most developed ecosystem. This ensures that all 5G smartphones in India seamlessly work on the Airtel network. Second, the company promises to deliver the best experience – between 20 to 30 times higher speeds than today coupled with brilliant voice experience and super-fast call connect. Finally, Airtel 5G Plus network will also be kinder to the environment with its special power reduction solution. Powered by the reliable Airtel network infrastructure, Airtel 5G Plus will provide superfast access to High-Definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos et all.
Commenting on the launch, Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel said, “5G has revolutionized the world of internet, ushering new era of connectivity and communications that will prove to be a game-changer for the country. At Airtel, we remain committed to delivering the highest quality of network and service to our customers as we roll-out 125 more cities today. Airtel was the first in the country to offer 5G services in October 2022, and today’s mega launch is our promise to connect every Airtel customer in the country with ultra-fast Airtel 5G Plus. Our 5G rollout is on track to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024.”
Airtel 5G Plus service availability will continue to rapidly expand – including service in all towns and villages in the country soon – as the company is working towards offering nationwide coverage. Airtel is now offering its 5G services in every major city from the upper northern city of Jammu to the southern tip of Kanyakumari.
In the last one year, Airtel has demonstrated the power of 5G with a host of powerful use cases that will change the way customers lead their lives and do business. From India’s first live 5G network in Hyderabad to India’s first private 5G network at the BOSCH facility in Bengaluru to partnering with Mahindra & Mahindra to make its Chakan manufacturing facility, India’s first 5G enabled auto manufacturing unit, Airtel has been at the forefront of 5G innovation.
NEW DELHI: Apple Inc has rolled out a beta programme to enable 5G on Apple devices as the upgrade lets users try out pre-release software.
This software upgrade enables 5G access on Apple devices, as and when service providers Jio, Airtel and Vodafone enable 5G network access, sources said.
Apple Users have to enrol for the Beta Programme on the website, install a profile and download the software.
Jio users using iPhone 12 and above, in cities where JioTrue5G has been rolled out, will be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio Welcome Offer provides unlimited 5G data at up to 1 Gbps speed to users at no additional cost. However, there is a condition that prepaid users must be on active Rs 239 and above plan. All Postpaid users are eligible for this trial.
Airtel is not providing any special 5G offer like Jio to their users. In the cities/areas in which the Airtel 5G network has been launched, users can trial 5G services as a part of their existing plan, once they have updated the latest Apple Beta software.
While an email sent to Apple did not solicit an immediate response, the firm had last month stated: “We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance is completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December”.
Airtel and Jio customers on iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and iPhone SE (3rd generation) models can experience 5G as part of Apple’s iOS 16 Beta Software Program. The Apple Beta Software Program is open to anyone with a valid Apple ID who accepts the Apple Beta Software Program Agreement during the sign-up process.
If a user has an iCloud account, that is an Apple ID, it is recommended they use that. If they do not have an iCloud account or any other Apple ID, they can create one.
Customers who want to try the beta software should back up their iPhones before installing the beta software. It is recommended to install the beta software only on non-production devices that are not business-critical. Users can also provide feedback to Apple on quality and usability, which helps Apple identify issues, fix them, and make Apple software even better.
The iOS beta comes with the built-in Feedback Assistant app, which can be opened from the Home screen on the iPhone or iPad or from the Dock on the Mac.
Source: Press Trust of India
5g
Nokia wins multi-year deal with Reliance Jio India to build one of the largest 5G networks in the world
NEW DELHI: Nokia has announced that it has been selected as a major supplier by Reliance Jio to supply 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio countrywide in a multi-year deal. Reliance Jio is India’s number one mobile operator and has one of the largest RAN footprints in the world.
Under the contract, Nokia will supply equipment from its AirScale portfolio, including base stations, high-capacity 5G Massive MIMO antennas, and Remote Radio Heads (RRH) to support different spectrum bands, and self-organizing network software. Reliance Jio plans to deploy a 5G standalone network which will interwork with its 4G network. The network will enable Reliance Jio to deliver advanced 5G services such as massive machine-to-machine communications, network slicing, and ultra-low-latency.
Akash Ambani, Chairman Reliance Jio, commented: “We are pleased to be working with Nokia for our 5G SA deployment in India. Jio is committed to continuously investing in the latest network technologies to enhance the experience of all of its customers. We are confident that our partnership with Nokia will deliver one of the most advanced 5G networks globally.”
Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO at Nokia stated: “This is a significant win for Nokia in an important market and a new customer with one of the largest RAN footprints in the world. This ambitious project will introduce millions of people across India to premium 5G services, enabled by our industry-leading AirScale portfolio. We are proud that Reliance Jio has placed its trust in our technology and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with them.”
Nokia has a long-standing presence in India. This new deal will mean that Nokia is now supplying India’s three largest mobile operators.
