India’s PM Narendra Modi launches 5G Test Bed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a 5G Test Bed at the TRAI Silver Jubilee celebration on Tuesday, to help the telecommunications industry validate fifth-generation products, prototypes, and solutions. Highlighting the huge opportunities 5G represents, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that 5G technology will help startups to grow and test their products. 

The Prime Minister also said, “Connectivity will play a pivotal role in the growth of the nation. 5G will help in improving governance, ease of living, and ease of doing business in India.” This project was developed at a cost of over Rs 220 crore. The 5G testbed was developed as a collaborative project between a total of eight institutions under the guidance of IIT Madras.

Our telecommunication sector is a good example of how self-sufficiency and healthy competition can synergize society and the economy. After the 2G era, the country has rapidly moved from 3G to 4G, now to 5G, and will continue to move to 6G, Modi said at the conference.

Other institutions involved in the 5G Test Bed project include IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research, and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT). 

The testbed was launched as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) highest decision-making body, the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), is expected to determine the modality of the 5G spectrum auction.