Reliance Jio Details 5G Plans at Qualcomm Event and Promises Jio-Scale Trials


Reliance Jio has detailed its 5G plans that will be supported by Qualcomm, the company’s president revealed while speaking at the Qualcomm 5G Summit. Jio, which started its public rollout in 2016 as the first 4G-only network in India, offering voice and data over the same LTE connection, has now moved to 5G and is expected to launch a 5G smartphone with a good value. value for money that could help achieve Mukesh Ambani’s goal of a 2G-mukt-Bharat (2G-free India). The telco, which catapulted itself as one of India’s leading telcos offering liberal free trials and extremely low fees, recently became the first provider to cross 40 million subscribers. In recent months, it has also raised massive amounts of funding from companies like Facebook and Google, and when 5G launches, it could well see a new round of growth.

In the keynote address of the Qualcomm 5G Summit, Reliance Jio Infocomm President Matthew Oomen said that Jio has developed a fully indigenous 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) product. Qualcomm also said that Snapdragon will support OpenRAN 5G, along with Jio and several other telcos.

“Our long-standing collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies will accelerate the development of a full suite of 5G products and solutions, as Jio continues to support and drive open technologies in RAN,” said Oommen. “From Silicon to software, all functions of a software-defined RAN will be tested on the Jio Scale. These open standards-based RAN technologies, together with the new Qualcomm 5G RAN platforms, will help bridge the gigabit digital divide to deliver the inclusive digital platform that is so much needed today for lives and livelihoods in India and beyond “.

“Qualcomm Technologies aims to deliver cutting-edge technology for virtualized, flexible, and interoperable 5G infrastructure around the world. We recently achieved a 1Gbps + milestone on the Reliance Jio 5G NR product, leveraging our Qualcomm 5G RAN platforms, and we look forward to expanding our efforts with Reliance Jio to enable flexible and scalable 5G RAN deployments, ”said Durga Malladi, Senior Vice President President and General Manager, 4G / 5G, Qualcomm Technologies.

The company further noted that the Qualcomm 5G RAN platform portfolio is designed to provide a foundation for a flexible, virtualized, scalable and interoperable cellular network infrastructure. The platforms offer scalable support for a wide range of infrastructure categories ranging from massive MIMO macro base stations to small cells, and feature support for all key frequency bands in the sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum.

At the RIL AGM that took place in July this year, the company made a number of announcements, including a partnership with Google to develop an Android-based operating system for affordable 4G and 5G smartphones, a mixed reality headset with holographic video calling, and much more. plus. The result of this partnership is rumored to be a smartphone priced less than Rs. 5,000 or $ 68.

As of now, we don’t know when the 5G smartphone will launch, but analysts’ predictions suggest that we can expect it in December. It’s worth noting that Google already had the Android One program, which was meant to promote near-original Android phones designed to run on entry-level devices.

Experts had pointed out that the deal between Reliance and Google could be a major challenge for Chinese phone makers in the country. The $ 4.5 billion (India Rs 33.737 million) deal under which Alphabet’s Google will collaborate with India’s Reliance Industries poses a major challenge for Chinese suppliers such as Xiaomi and BBK Electronics, owner of the Realme brands, Oppo and Vivo, which currently dominate a $ 2 billion (roughly Rs. 14,955 crore) market for smartphones under $ 100 (roughly Rs. 7,400) in India.

At AGM 2020 on July 15, Mukesh Ambani said: “Today folks, I am proud to announce that Jio has designed and developed a complete 5G solution from the ground up. This will allow us to launch a world-class 5G service in India using 100% local technologies and solutions. This 5G solution made in India will be ready for testing as soon as the 5G spectrum is available. “

However, at the moment, 5G networks have not been launched in the country, as the government has yet to allocate spectrum for 5G trials, which would be necessary before any implementation. A recent report by Zee Business, citing Interior Ministry sources, suggested that trials may not take place this year after all, which could be a roadblock to Reliance Jio’s plans.


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