Reliance Jio Infocomm, India’s largest wireless telecom operator by numbers, has partnered with Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericsson for a long-term strategic contract to roll out 5G Standalone (SA) in India.
This is Jio and Ericsson’s first collaboration in the country for radio access network deployment.
Jio’s Standalone 5G network deployment represents a significant technological leap because it modernises network infrastructure to provide consumers and enterprises with a truly transformative 5G experience.
5G SA capabilities are expected to drive innovation, build a strong 5G ecosystem, and deliver advanced services.
Jio’s 5G network will use Ericsson’s energy-efficient 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and solutions from Ericsson Radio System, as well as E-band microwave mobile transport solution.
Transforming the digital landscape
Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio said that Jio transformed the digital landscape in India with the launch of LTE services in 2016.
“We are confident that Jio’s 5G network will accelerate India’s digitalisation and will serve as the foundation for achieving our nation’s ‘Digital India’ vision,” he added.
Additionally, Jio recently stated that it has chosen Nokia as a significant supplier to supply 5G RAN equipment from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio across the country in a multi-year deal.
Meanwhile, regarding the latest Jio-Ericsson deal, Börje Ekholm, president and CEO of Ericsson, stated that India is constructing world-class digital infrastructure that will spur innovation, job creation, and entrepreneurship throughout the country.
“We are happy to partner with Jio in those ambitions, through Ericsson 5G Standalone connectivity, which will be a major catalyst in meeting those digital transformation goals across society, enterprise and industry,” the Ericsson CEO added.
With these collaborations, for the first time, Jio has brought in European vendors to supply network equipment, as opposed to its 4G network, which was solely provided by the South Korean giant Samsung.
However, Samsung is still involved in Jio’s 5G network strategy.
If we look back at the history of India’s digital revolution, Jio’s contribution is prominent.
For example, the cost of 1GB of mobile data in India was Rs 225 in 2015, not long after India first got high-speed 4G internet, and the drop in data prices was triggered by the September 2016 launch of Mukesh Ambani’s 4G mobile network, Reliance Jio.
Customers were also enticed by Reliance’s offer of 4GB of data per day for free.
Within 6 months of Reliance Jio’s launch, India surpassed China as the world’s leading mobile data consumer, consuming over 1 billion GB of data per month, up from 200 million GB previously.
Now as India has entered the 5G era, it is expected that Jio would roll out its 5G service across the country by 2023.
As reported earlier, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani said in the recent AGM: “By December 2023, we will deliver Jio 5G to blanket 3.37 million square kilometres of India’s landmass.”
5G India
Ericsson released a report earlier this month on the ‘Promise of 5G’ in India which stated that consumer 5G readiness is high in the country.
As per the report, in urban India, the intention to upgrade to 5G is twice as high as in markets where 5G has already been launched, such as the UK and the US.
It also noted that over the last two years, India has seen a threefold increase in the number of smartphone users who own a 5G handset.
The study also highlighted that 100 million+ users with 5G-ready smartphones wish to upgrade to a 5G subscription in 2023 while more than half of them are open to upgrading to a higher data tier plan in the next 12 months.
After the 5G launch at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 conference, all the top telcos, including Jio, have started their process to recharge the country with the 5G speed.
However, in terms of 5G roll-out in India, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently during an interview said that the “5G era has dawned in India” and it would take some time before 5G is available uniformly at the same level and the same quality across the country.
“The roll-out of this kind of scale and magnitude and of a new technology does take time,” he added.
However, the minister also noted that the 5G represents the fifth generation of person-to-person communication but also it is the first generation that is going to deeply transform the internet.
Manish Godha, CEO and founder of Advaiya, told News18 that the 5G roll-out in India will certainly change the way people consume digital content and services.
“The low latency could encourage better delivery of field services like in developed nations. It’s a welcome step as far as the software and IT sector is concerned” he added.
Another industry expert, Santhosh Reddy, co-founder and CTO of ShakeDeal, stated: “Apart from the significant interest among consumers to adopt 5G, Indian enterprises consider 5G to be the most important technology for their digital strategies.”
Meanwhile, Aman Swetta, co-founder of Id8 Media Solutions, believes that the marketing and advertising industry might also witness a sudden push for digital advertising, as well as digital marketing as a result of 5G’s presence in India.
While citing Ericsson’s deal with Jio, he also said: “The partnership to build India’s first standalone 5G network is a great step towards digitising India as an economy.”
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