India up against big tech cos over 5G signaling

Govt in competition as global telecom body evaluates

Hyderabad, Feb. 4: The talk around 5G really unfolded two years ago when US President Donald Trump rallied the developed world around banning Huawei Technologies, especially its 5G tech. Subsequently, countries began permitting, one by one, the Chinese telecoms vendor to supply its 5G gear for the new network roll-out. In December 2019, India allowed Huawei to participate in 5G trials.

However, there is more to it than appears, The Ken reports. Around this time last year, the Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI), proposed a radio interface technology (RIT) to the

International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Later in the year, in December, the ITU accepted the proposal under consideration for additional features to telecom standards. The new tech is a modification to the radio signal — the information carrier in telecommunications — which can enhance the signal transmission range of a base station. India wants to apply this technology for wider coverage at low speeds. This is ideal for rural India, which certainly needs high-speed broadband but not necessarily in high-speed vehicles.

Starting February, the remaining steps for including the RIT as part of the 5G global standards — International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 — will begin. Independent groups will now evaluate this technology.

An Indian official said, “Quarterfinals are over, semi-finals will begin Geneva this month.”

The so-called ‘match’ is between global telecoms vendors — Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm on one side, and TSDSI on the other, alone at the negotiating table because there is no Indian equipment company big enough to wield commercial clout internationally. The Indian proposal makes use of the third generation partnership product (3GPP) framework, a global standardisation body for wireless standards that is dominated by telecoms vendors. Consequently, TSDSI has asked it to reserve certain bits so that the RIT is harmonised. in

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Standards Development Society, India, proposed a radio interface technology, a modification to the radio signal — the information carrier in telecommunications — which can enhance the signal transmission range of a base station, to the International Telecommunications Union.