Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei is in talks with top Indian telecom operators to promote joint innovation around the 5G technology, having kicked-off 5G-related technology trials in the country. It is also in talks with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio to provide equipment for the latter’s fiber-to-home service, which is likely to be rolled out soon.
“Once Huawei has deployed 4G in India, and now we are introducing 5G technology in 4G networks. And by route we believe that in the 4G era, from 4G to 5G journey, India will be at the same pace as global. It is this very reason that we say that 5G commercial roll out is not far away in India,” Jay Chen, chief executive officer at Huawei India, told ET.
The gear maker is bringing in technologies such as cloudification of spectrum, network virualisation, software-defined network and network slicing, which are all pre-5G technologies and will eventually lead to commercial roll out of 5G in India.
Huawei is also working with operators to strengthen the associated network such as backhaul, backbone and NLD, which are all essential for 5G deployments. “It is utmost importance that we have the necessary infrastructure in terms of site availability, well priced spectrum, and to ensure coverage. When we talk of 5G, we need to first iron out these issues to prepare for a proper 5G environment in India,” Chen added.
Huawei has secured new businesses in the domain of wireless, core and transmission in last few months, the executive said. It recently bagged a contract from Bharti Airtel to provide pre5G technology, massive MIMO, in some of the circles.
