India Inches Closer To 5G Internet: Google Jio Partnership, MTNL 5G Trials
The government-backed telecom operator MTNL would begin the nation’s one of the earliest India 5G trials soon. This comes after India’s Department of Technology (DoT) auctioned the 5G trial spectrum to MTNL.
We have been hearing about the arrival of 5G in India for a couple of years now. Let’s explore some of the latest updates in this area.
MTNL 5G Trials To Begin Soon
MTNL, short for Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited, is a subsidiary of BSNL and provides its services in metropolitan areas including Delhi and Mumbai.
The DoT had previously allowed MTNL to conduct 5G trials; the allotment of the 5G spectrum is the next step in this direction. The MTNL 5G trials in partnership with C-DOT are expected to commence soon in Delhi’s Najafgarh area, reports Business Line.
Who has already done 5G trials?
However, MTNL is not the first Indian telco to test 5G. Bharti Airtel conducted its 5G network trials this month in Cyber City, Gurugram, and reportedly achieved 1Gbps speeds. On the other hand, Reliance Jio also started 5G testing in Mumbai.
Speaking of the hardware, various telecom operators have joined hands with OEMs like Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and C-DOT to source equipment for their 5G network.
Google Partners With Reliance Jio For 5G Services
A major update from Reliance Annual General Meet (AGM) is the new 5G partnership between Google Cloud and Jio.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post that Jio will move its core retail business to Google Cloud as part of the joint efforts. On the other hand, Google will provide its AI and machine learning knowledge to boost Jio 5G services in health, education, and other sectors.
However, we are yet to hear a word on the Jio 5G rollout in India.
Another outcome of the Google-Jio partnership is the new Jio Phone Next. The upcoming smartphone will run a version of Android optimized specifically for this device. In addition to the latest Android updates, the device will offer great camera performance and language translation features, Pichai said.
This is not the first time the two companies have joined hands. Last year, Google invested $4.5 billion in Reliance Jio against a 7.73% stake in the company. It seems that their work behind the scenes is showing up now.
