India to get indigenously developed 5G network in 2022 : MoS Chauhan

India will have indigenously designed and developed 5G network by the third quarter of 2022, minister of state for communications Devusinh Chauhan said.

Chauhan said that digital initiatives are central to the government’s policy of Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India. “We have been encouraging the development of 5G technology in India and the results are quite exciting.  The Department of Telecommunications in collaboration with academic institutions is already at the cusp of developing indigenous 5G test beds which will be a common facility for testing 5G network elements,” Chauhan said at the inaugural session of the Indian Mobile Congress on Wednesday.

The Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai and Hyderabad have developed a  5G standard called 5Gi which is billed as a cost effective alternative to globally used 3GPP standard. The issue also has the industry divided with companies like TCS and Tejas Networks supporting its adoption. Telecom operators and vendors however are not in favour of using the locally developed standard as it is yet to demonstrate results on a commercial scale.