Reliance Jio, Qualcomm To Fast Track 5G Network Infra In India

Reliance Jio, Qualcomm To Fast Track 5G Network Infra In India – Reliance Jio and US-based Qualcomm will join hands to fast-track the deployment of 5G mobile internet supported homegrown technologies, putting India in an exclusive club of countries with the potential to supply superfast speeds of 1 gigabyte per second (Gbps) to users.

San Diego-based Qualcomm is the world’s leading mobile chipset and modem maker.

The partnership builds on the commitment by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, who announced in July that Jio was developing made-in-India 5G technology, giving the country control over coveted know-how that’s the inspiration of a digital economy.

The two companies also announced that they achieved speeds of 1 Gbps on Jio’s 5G solution employing a Qualcomm platform. For beginners, this is able to mean that it’ll be possible to download a 1-gigabyte size movie in only one second.

The partnership also includes Radisys Corporation, a US subsidiary of Jio with support for 5G credentials but also signifies the entry of Jio and India into the Gigabit 5G NR products.

At present, only a couple of nations, including the US, South Korea, Australia, Switzerland, and Germany offer 1 Gbps speeds to 5G users.

Speaking at the Qualcomm 5G Summit, Mathew Oommen president of Reliance Jio Infocomm said, “I am excited to announce that with Qualcomm’s technology and support, Jio has indigenously developed a 5G RAN product that has achieved over 1 Gbps throughput… actually joining the gigabit throughput clock, the merchandise is already tested and validated by a Tier-1 carrier within the US and is meant to means the event and roll-out of indigenous 5G network infrastructure and services in India.”

In July, Reliance Jio had raised INR 730 Cr from Qualcomm Ventures, the investment wing of Qualcomm. Qualcomm invested in Jio Platforms at an equity value of INR 4.91 Lakh Cr and an enterprise value of INR 5.16 Lakh Cr. The investment gives Qualcomm 0.15% stake in Reliance Jio on a totally diluted basis.

In all, Jio Platforms — that houses India’s youngest but largest telecom firm Jio and apps — has raised about INR 1,52,056 Cr from 13 investors, including Facebook, Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), TPG Capital, L Catterton, Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia , Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures, for a complete 32.9% stake.

While its past investments in Indian startups pale as compared to the Jio deal, Qualcomm Ventures has been active within the technology sector. it’s invested in Portea Medical, MoveInSync, Ninjacart and MindTickle among other companies.

Since 2016, Reliance Jio has become the defacto flagbearer of digital growth within the Indian market. Reliance Jio and therefore the company’s various digital businesses were clubbed under Jio Platforms late last year. within the last four years, Jio has added dozens of products and services centered around 4G services and residential broadband, including JioSaavn, JioTV, JioCinema, JioMoney, JioNews, Ajio, JioMart and even launched a video conferencing product JioMeet to satisfy the growing demand, among others.

5G By 2022 In India

A report by Ericsson had revealed that 5G technology will make inroads into India by 2022. It said that while 5G is predicted to hide 65% of the world’s population by 2025, India would be ready to only register 11% of 5G subscriptions within the country.

The challenges behind this slow growth of 5G in India are often seen as a result of a scarcity of infrastructure and slow adoption of this technology by telecom players globally has begun to switch to 5G networks with governments already allocating 5G spectrums to them in respective countries.

For instance, since its launch in April 2019 in South Korea, the country’s service providers have already recorded 3 Mn 5G subscriptions by the top of September 2019.

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