While Finnish giant Nokia is prepped up to make a comeback in the mobile space, it is also planning to roll-out 5G connectivity in India along with Bharti Airtel and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).
Nokia has signed a memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with Indian telecom giants Airtel and BSNL.
Sanjay Malik, head of India market at Nokia told that the idea behind these pacts is to introduce 5G in the country and see what are the steps required for the same. He said that this is more of a preparatory phase for getting into 5G.
Nokia is also setting up an experience centre within its R&D center in Bengaluru to understand stakeholder requirements for 5G in India and push towards the adoption of the new technology in the country.
5G is expected to launch in developed countries by 2020 and by 2022, in India. While the penetration of 4G in the Indian market has been tepid, there is much scepticism towards the adoption of 5G in India.
Despite the pessimistic outlook, mobile companies, telecom operators and the Centre are working towards ensuring that India comes on board the 5G bandwagon in line with the world.
From the sidelines of the World Mobile Congress, Samsung and Reliance Jio had earlier announced that they together plan to bring 5G network to India and Telecom Secretary JS Deepak had said that they were late in 3G and 4G and are very keen that India should not be deprived of 5G. He further mentioned that it is not only a communication issue, it is a productivity issue for industry. It has wider applications in smart cities and grids and all kinds of things.”
By Baishakhi Dutta
