BSNL And Ciena Join Hands For 5G In India

The 5G trials are expected to take place in any of the preferred Urban Metro Area. 

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a leading telecom operator in India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ciena to prepare its network for the impending evolution toward 5G.

BSNL, in support of the Digital India vision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and recent strategic telecom plan from India’s Department of Telecommunications, is working to conduct field trials to roll out 5G by 2020.

The network operator is collaborating closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and technology partners to showcase a strong 5G ecosystem that enables innovation for new use cases and business models.

5G trials – When and where?
The 5G trials are expected to take place in any of the preferred Urban Metro Area.  To support transport delivery for these 5G trials, the parties will explore Ciena providing next generation Converged Packet Optical and Packet Networking platforms as well as Blue Planet Intelligent Automation software.

In a recent report, Deccan Chronicle reported that the collaboration, celebrated at a signing ceremony in New Delhi, signifies the next step toward adoption of 5G by operators in the government sector and beyond. 

BSNL’s Chairman and Managing Director, Anupam Shrivastava commented that5G represents an enormous opportunity in India and BSNL has made a significant step forward to bring this innovation to market. He further commented that BSNL expects that these trials will show the true benefit of 5G which promises to deliver speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second, as much as 30 times faster than 4G.

Ciena India’s Vice President and General Manager, Ryan Perera commented that conducting field trials in collaboration with BSNL will mark an important step in making 5G a reality in India.