The Chronicles of 5G deployment in India : News and Updates

[Gautam]

TRAI is consulting people on how to improve broadband speeds :

Trai seeks stakeholder views on broadband speed

NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator Trai on Thursday invited public views to define broadband speed in various categories for both mobile as well as fixedline services

www.newindianexpress.com

On the manufacturing side, rumour mill says VVDN is in conversation with Jio for 5G equipment manufacturing. VVDN has so far got contacts from STL for 5G radios, Rakuten for 5G radios, HFCL for WiFi 6

Gurgaon-based VVDN bags 5G manufacturing deal from Sterlite Tech - ET Telecom

5G Radio Solutions: Gurgaon-based engineering and manufacturing company VVDN has bagged a 5G manufacturing deal from Sterlite Technologies. Under the deal, VVDN will make 5G radio products including small cells and macro RU.

telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

VVDN to manufacture Wi-Fi 6 based wireless products for HFCL in India - ET Telecom

Home-bred manufacturing company VVDN Technologies said that it is manufacturing wireless products for gear maker HFCL. Both companies are working together to launch Wi-Fi 6 based wireless solutions for Indian and global markets.

telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

A deal with Jio will likely be bigger than anything they ever handled. VVDN has recently upgraded and expanded their manufacturing facilities :

VVDN Technologies Proudly Announces New Advanced Manufacturing Facility

Gurugram – VVDN Technologies has taken a step forward by opening its new advanced manufacturing facility in Manesar, Gurugram, With this new plant, VVDN...

www.vvdntech.com

VVDN Technologies continues its Manufacturing Expansion with additional 10 Acre Global Innovation Park in India

VVDN Technologies Newsroom - Find here the VVDN's Latest News, Press Releases, Event updates, Media Kit, Top stories.

www.vvdntech.com

.

 

[RISING SUN]

India moves to cut Huawei gear from telecoms network
India is phasing out equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies from its telecoms networks over an escalating border dispute, striking a fresh blow to the beleaguered technology giant in one of its most important markets. New Delhi has not issued any formal written ban on Chinese equipment suppliers like Huawei and ZTE, nor has prime minister Narendra Modi’s government made any such public pronouncements. However, industry executives and government officials say key ministries have clearly indicated that local telecom service providers should avoid using Chinese equipment in future investments, including in 5G networks.

“It’s open now that the government is not going to allow Chinese equipment,” a top telecom industry executive told the FT. “There is now clarity . . . It’s really game over.” India’s telecoms department, the executive added, “has already disallowed 5G testing with Chinese vendors”. Huawei has been one of the three biggest telecom equipment suppliers in India, which is the world’s second biggest mobile market, with more than 850m users. It has had significant contracts with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and state-owned BSNL. New Delhi is unlikely to ever formally ban Huawei or other Chinese equipment companies, lest it provoke a tough response from Beijing, a senior government official told the FT.

But the official said Mr Modi’s administration is highly wary about Chinese investment in sensitive infrastructure. The two nuclear-armed neighbours currently have tens of thousands of soldiers massed along their disputed border high on the Tibetan plateau, after a deadly brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Indian Border Security Force soldiers guard a highway leading towards the Himalayan town of Leh along the border with China, “The thinking is: ‘Let’s do tough rather than talk tough,’” the official told the FT. “We don’t want to make life miserable for consumers. But when it comes to big public contracts and critical infrastructure, we would prefer non-Chinese companies. That message has gotten through to Indian business.”

New Delhi’s informal boycott comes as Huawei is under growing political pressure in western countries from the UK to Australia, where it has been banned from providing 5G kit amid concerns it could allow Beijing to hack into countries’ power grids and other critical infrastructure. Anti-China sentiment in India has grown since June’s border dispute, after which New Delhi banned TikTok along with 58 other apps, citing national security concerns.

“India’s government is yet to issue an official diktat against Huawei and is playing wait and watch,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst of Greyhound Research. “Irrespective, the intent is evident — that of not being welcoming to Huawei.” Mr Gogia said Huawei’s exclusion from upcoming 5G trials would be a blow to both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone’s struggling Indian arm as it would lead to their incurring higher costs. It would, however, open opportunities for Huawei’s rivals Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, he said.

India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio, owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, does not have Chinese equipment in its networks, and has pledged to develop its own 5G equipment, though analysts are sceptical. It has also sold stakes to a raft of high-profile US companies including Google and Facebook. Jio’s main rival Bharti Airtel — which traditionally relied heavily on Huawei — announced a new tie up with US-based Verizon in August.

Bharti Airtel “will try to be in the government’s good books with this anti-China sentiment”, said Neil Shah, a telecom industry analyst at consultancy Counterpoint Research. “BSNL — India’s state-owned telecoms company — is shutting out Chinese vendors, definitely Huawei is in limbo. At Airtel they are almost shut out.” Vodafone, India’s third-largest telecoms player, is the most dependent on Chinese equipment but its survival is in doubt as a result of a long-running dispute over retrospective levies and penalties worth billions of dollars.

Huawei refused to comment on its India business, but said in a recent statement that “reports suggesting lay-offs of more than half of Huawei staff in India are untrue”.

India moves to cut Huawei gear from telecoms network

Industry executives say government is seeking to phase out Chinese equipment without a formal ban

www.ft.com

 

[_Anonymous_]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1298203918015504386

 

[Gautam]

India moves to cut Huawei gear from telecoms network
India is phasing out equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies from its telecoms networks over an escalating border dispute, striking a fresh blow to the beleaguered technology giant in one of its most important markets. New Delhi has not issued any formal written ban on Chinese equipment suppliers like Huawei and ZTE, nor has prime minister Narendra Modi’s government made any such public pronouncements. However, industry executives and government officials say key ministries have clearly indicated that local telecom service providers should avoid using Chinese equipment in future investments, including in 5G networks.

“It’s open now that the government is not going to allow Chinese equipment,” a top telecom industry executive told the FT. “There is now clarity . . . It’s really game over.” India’s telecoms department, the executive added, “has already disallowed 5G testing with Chinese vendors”. Huawei has been one of the three biggest telecom equipment suppliers in India, which is the world’s second biggest mobile market, with more than 850m users. It has had significant contracts with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and state-owned BSNL. New Delhi is unlikely to ever formally ban Huawei or other Chinese equipment companies, lest it provoke a tough response from Beijing, a senior government official told the FT.

But the official said Mr Modi’s administration is highly wary about Chinese investment in sensitive infrastructure. The two nuclear-armed neighbours currently have tens of thousands of soldiers massed along their disputed border high on the Tibetan plateau, after a deadly brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Indian Border Security Force soldiers guard a highway leading towards the Himalayan town of Leh along the border with China, “The thinking is: ‘Let’s do tough rather than talk tough,’” the official told the FT. “We don’t want to make life miserable for consumers. But when it comes to big public contracts and critical infrastructure, we would prefer non-Chinese companies. That message has gotten through to Indian business.”

New Delhi’s informal boycott comes as Huawei is under growing political pressure in western countries from the UK to Australia, where it has been banned from providing 5G kit amid concerns it could allow Beijing to hack into countries’ power grids and other critical infrastructure. Anti-China sentiment in India has grown since June’s border dispute, after which New Delhi banned TikTok along with 58 other apps, citing national security concerns.

“India’s government is yet to issue an official diktat against Huawei and is playing wait and watch,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst of Greyhound Research. “Irrespective, the intent is evident — that of not being welcoming to Huawei.” Mr Gogia said Huawei’s exclusion from upcoming 5G trials would be a blow to both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone’s struggling Indian arm as it would lead to their incurring higher costs. It would, however, open opportunities for Huawei’s rivals Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, he said.

India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio, owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, does not have Chinese equipment in its networks, and has pledged to develop its own 5G equipment, though analysts are sceptical. It has also sold stakes to a raft of high-profile US companies including Google and Facebook. Jio’s main rival Bharti Airtel — which traditionally relied heavily on Huawei — announced a new tie up with US-based Verizon in August.

Bharti Airtel “will try to be in the government’s good books with this anti-China sentiment”, said Neil Shah, a telecom industry analyst at consultancy Counterpoint Research. “BSNL — India’s state-owned telecoms company — is shutting out Chinese vendors, definitely Huawei is in limbo. At Airtel they are almost shut out.” Vodafone, India’s third-largest telecoms player, is the most dependent on Chinese equipment but its survival is in doubt as a result of a long-running dispute over retrospective levies and penalties worth billions of dollars.

Huawei refused to comment on its India business, but said in a recent statement that “reports suggesting lay-offs of more than half of Huawei staff in India are untrue”.

India moves to cut Huawei gear from telecoms network

Industry executives say government is seeking to phase out Chinese equipment without a formal ban

www.ft.com

Undoubtedly a good step but it will have side-effects. One of the most obvious ones is this :

Without Huawei and ZTE in India, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea's battle against Jio to become tougher | Business Insider India

India may not have officially declared a ban, but Chinese network equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE are being pushed out of the country. The impetus on driving Chinas technology out of the country comes amidst border tensions along the Line of Actual Control LAC that has crossed the...

www.businessinsider.in

@Ashwin @_Anonymous_ @randomradio @Sathya et al.....
Have a look at this:


5G: After receiving Rs 1.55 lakh crore, Mukesh Ambani eyes to buy homegrown companies

Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

By Muntazir Abbas
ET Telecom
August 25, 2020, 16:31 IST


NEW DELHI: Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

"Some of the domestic companies have recently received business proposals from Reliance Industries which want to acquire local firms developing 5G technology-based solutions," an industry source told ETTelecom. Indian firms such as Vihaan Networks, Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd.(HFCL), Lekha Wireless, Signal Chip, Saankhya Labs, Resonous, Nivetti, Mymo Wireless and Niral Networks are in the advance stage to develop open-source based 5G solutions.

Bengaluru-based Saankhya Labs is currently developing an open radio access network (O-RAN)-based cognitive scalable 5G solution which includes multi-band remote radio units with advanced analytics capabilities that it already plans to unveil early next year. Saankhya Labs, however, denied any such discussions with Reliance Industries, but added that it would be interested if a right investment move is made out to the company.

"Jio is looking at Indian companies that are in the final stages to develop 5G components or radio network products since a start from scratch will only drag the final outcome to almost four years," another person said.

Reliance Jio did nor respond to a query.

In 2018, Reliance bought the US-based Radisys to accelerate innovation and technology leadership in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and open-source based architecture adoption, and its push for local enterprises would further build on company's acquired capabilities.

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/5g-after-receiving-rs-1-55-lakh-crore-mukesh-ambani-eyes-to-buy-homegrown-companies/77741557

Looks like Jio's 5G software suite, network architecture and design is ready. They seem to be moving to solve their 5G hardware issues. The companies listed here combined can make everything needed to get the 5G network rolling. The only thing missing is mass scaled PCB manufacturing. In India there is only one major mass scale pure play PCB manufacturer, VVDN technologies. It is rumoured that VVDN is in conversation with Jio for a hardware deal. Not sure what hardware though.

If these "buy outs" go through. Jio's position as a 5G telecom gear supplier is sealed. It would put them in a unique position globally. Jio's tech is O-RAN based thus significantly cheaper than the proprietary hardware/software from traditional suppliers. On top of that barring Radisys, most of the R&D of the 5G network has been done in India. Labour prices will come into play here, doing R&D in India is cheaper. Thus Jio's 5G O-RAN will be cheaper that Rakuten's to build and maintain. Also if the buy out goes through, Jio will have hardware design and manufacturing capability that Rakuten doesn't have.

The main selling point of the Chinese firms on 5G is the low prices. Jio is known to do the same, infact cheap (or even free) tariff is the USP of Jio. Ambani is also known to use every under-handed tactics that the Chinese employ while doing business. Who knows how this might end, especially with the Huawei getting banned left and right.

Companies like Signalchip and Saankhya Labs design their own chips and own complete IP of it. They get the chips manufactured by Samsung and/or TSMC. These guys are like ARM and Qualcomm baked into one. ARM designs/owns the IP for the ISA of the chips. Qualcomm further builds on the chips and makes FPGA and SoCs for phone and tablet makers.

Signalchip and Saankhya does both. In fact Saankhya does more than that. They also make the final product using the chips, sometime by themselves sometimes with a partner like Cyient. With Cyient they managed to make Software Defined Radios(SDRs) for the military and make a sale to the Army. Given the mess that is Indian defence procurement, a small company managing to score a major deal of a critical equipment is no small feat. That too from the Army. They have earned my respect. Saankhya has started working on Cognitive O-RAN, one of proposed technologies for 6G, already

If nurtured well these companies might as well turn into globally competitive fabless semi-conductor companies. If Jio manages to get their hands on them, it will over night transform Jio into a fabless semi-conductor giant. They would be in position to take on Qualcomm for mobile processors within months of acquisition assuming Jio is willing to invest in this sphere.

In either case this is better than getting acquired by foreign companies. I remember an upcoming Indian fabless company Cosmic Circuits was acquired by US based Cadence Semiconductor in 2013. HCL acquire Sankalp Semiconductor in 2019, but like most major Indian companies they have done nothing worth much yet. Maybe Jio can make a change, they do have the financial guns for it.

 

[_Anonymous_]

India moves to cut Huawei gear from telecoms network
India is phasing out equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies from its telecoms networks over an escalating border dispute, striking a fresh blow to the beleaguered technology giant in one of its most important markets. New Delhi has not issued any formal written ban on Chinese equipment suppliers like Huawei and ZTE, nor has prime minister Narendra Modi’s government made any such public pronouncements. However, industry executives and government officials say key ministries have clearly indicated that local telecom service providers should avoid using Chinese equipment in future investments, including in 5G networks.

“It’s open now that the government is not going to allow Chinese equipment,” a top telecom industry executive told the FT. “There is now clarity . . . It’s really game over.” India’s telecoms department, the executive added, “has already disallowed 5G testing with Chinese vendors”. Huawei has been one of the three biggest telecom equipment suppliers in India, which is the world’s second biggest mobile market, with more than 850m users. It has had significant contracts with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and state-owned BSNL. New Delhi is unlikely to ever formally ban Huawei or other Chinese equipment companies, lest it provoke a tough response from Beijing, a senior government official told the FT.

But the official said Mr Modi’s administration is highly wary about Chinese investment in sensitive infrastructure. The two nuclear-armed neighbours currently have tens of thousands of soldiers massed along their disputed border high on the Tibetan plateau, after a deadly brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Indian Border Security Force soldiers guard a highway leading towards the Himalayan town of Leh along the border with China, “The thinking is: ‘Let’s do tough rather than talk tough,’” the official told the FT. “We don’t want to make life miserable for consumers. But when it comes to big public contracts and critical infrastructure, we would prefer non-Chinese companies. That message has gotten through to Indian business.”

New Delhi’s informal boycott comes as Huawei is under growing political pressure in western countries from the UK to Australia, where it has been banned from providing 5G kit amid concerns it could allow Beijing to hack into countries’ power grids and other critical infrastructure. Anti-China sentiment in India has grown since June’s border dispute, after which New Delhi banned TikTok along with 58 other apps, citing national security concerns.

“India’s government is yet to issue an official diktat against Huawei and is playing wait and watch,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst of Greyhound Research. “Irrespective, the intent is evident — that of not being welcoming to Huawei.” Mr Gogia said Huawei’s exclusion from upcoming 5G trials would be a blow to both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone’s struggling Indian arm as it would lead to their incurring higher costs. It would, however, open opportunities for Huawei’s rivals Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, he said.

India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio, owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, does not have Chinese equipment in its networks, and has pledged to develop its own 5G equipment, though analysts are sceptical. It has also sold stakes to a raft of high-profile US companies including Google and Facebook. Jio’s main rival Bharti Airtel — which traditionally relied heavily on Huawei — announced a new tie up with US-based Verizon in August.

Bharti Airtel “will try to be in the government’s good books with this anti-China sentiment”, said Neil Shah, a telecom industry analyst at consultancy Counterpoint Research. “BSNL — India’s state-owned telecoms company — is shutting out Chinese vendors, definitely Huawei is in limbo. At Airtel they are almost shut out.” Vodafone, India’s third-largest telecoms player, is the most dependent on Chinese equipment but its survival is in doubt as a result of a long-running dispute over retrospective levies and penalties worth billions of dollars.

Huawei refused to comment on its India business, but said in a recent statement that “reports suggesting lay-offs of more than half of Huawei staff in India are untrue”.

India moves to cut Huawei gear from telecoms network

Industry executives say government is seeking to phase out Chinese equipment without a formal ban

www.ft.com

A fully formal ban may not materialize immediately as these companies require a transitional time to rid themselves completely of equipment from Huawei / ZTE.

Who knows we may even see past players like Tatas, etc moving in with Airtel, Vodafone to shore up their balance sheets & pick up a strategic stake.

 

[_Anonymous_]

Undoubtedly a good step but it will have side-effects. One of the most obvious ones is this :

Without Huawei and ZTE in India, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea's battle against Jio to become tougher | Business Insider India

India may not have officially declared a ban, but Chinese network equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE are being pushed out of the country. The impetus on driving Chinas technology out of the country comes amidst border tensions along the Line of Actual Control LAC that has crossed the...

www.businessinsider.in

@Ashwin @_Anonymous_ @randomradio @Sathya et al.....
Have a look at this:


5G: After receiving Rs 1.55 lakh crore, Mukesh Ambani eyes to buy homegrown companies

Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

By Muntazir Abbas
ET Telecom
August 25, 2020, 16:31 IST


NEW DELHI: Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

"Some of the domestic companies have recently received business proposals from Reliance Industries which want to acquire local firms developing 5G technology-based solutions," an industry source told ETTelecom. Indian firms such as Vihaan Networks, Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd.(HFCL), Lekha Wireless, Signal Chip, Saankhya Labs, Resonous, Nivetti, Mymo Wireless and Niral Networks are in the advance stage to develop open-source based 5G solutions.

Bengaluru-based Saankhya Labs is currently developing an open radio access network (O-RAN)-based cognitive scalable 5G solution which includes multi-band remote radio units with advanced analytics capabilities that it already plans to unveil early next year. Saankhya Labs, however, denied any such discussions with Reliance Industries, but added that it would be interested if a right investment move is made out to the company.

"Jio is looking at Indian companies that are in the final stages to develop 5G components or radio network products since a start from scratch will only drag the final outcome to almost four years," another person said.

Reliance Jio did nor respond to a query.

In 2018, Reliance bought the US-based Radisys to accelerate innovation and technology leadership in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and open-source based architecture adoption, and its push for local enterprises would further build on company's acquired capabilities.

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/5g-after-receiving-rs-1-55-lakh-crore-mukesh-ambani-eyes-to-buy-homegrown-companies/77741557

Looks like Jio's 5G software suite, network architecture and design is ready. They seem to be moving to solve their 5G hardware issues. The companies listed here combined can make everything needed to get the 5G network rolling. The only thing missing is mass scaled PCB manufacturing. In India there is only one major mass scale pure play PCB manufacturer, VVDN technologies. It is rumoured that VVDN is in conversation with Jio for a hardware deal. Not sure what hardware though.

If these "buy outs" go through. Jio's position as a 5G telecom gear supplier is sealed. It would put them in a unique position globally. Jio's tech is O-RAN based thus significantly cheaper than the proprietary hardware/software from traditional suppliers. On top of that barring Radisys, most of the R&D of the 5G network has been done in India. Labour prices will come into play here, doing R&D in India is cheaper. Thus Jio's 5G O-RAN will be cheaper that Rakuten's to build and maintain. Also if the buy out goes through, Jio will have hardware design and manufacturing capability that Rakuten doesn't have.

The main selling point of the Chinese firms on 5G is the low prices. Jio is known to do the same, infact cheap (or even free) tariff is the USP of Jio. Ambani is also known to use every under-handed tactics that the Chinese employ while doing business. Who knows how this might end, especially with the Huawei getting banned left and right.

Companies like Signalchip and Saankhya Labs design their own chips and own complete IP of it. They get the chips manufactured by Samsung and/or TSMC. These guys are like ARM and Qualcomm baked into one. ARM designs/owns the IP for the ISA of the chips. Qualcomm further builds on the chips and makes FPGA and SoCs for phone and tablet makers.

Signalchip and Saankhya does both. In fact Saankhya does more than that. They also make the final product using the chips, sometime by themselves sometimes with a partner like Cyient. With Cyient they managed to make Software Defined Radios(SDRs) for the military and make a sale to the Army. Given the mess that is Indian defence procurement, a small company managing to score a major deal of a critical equipment is no small feat. That too from the Army. They have earned my respect. Saankhya has started working on Cognitive O-RAN, one of proposed technologies for 6G, already

If nurtured well these companies might as well turn into globally competitive fabless semi-conductor companies. If Jio manages to get their hands on them, it will over night transform Jio into a fabless semi-conductor giant. They would be in position to take on Qualcomm for mobile processors within months of acquisition assuming Jio is willing to invest in this sphere.

In either case this is better than getting acquired by foreign companies. I remember an upcoming Indian fabless company Cosmic Circuits was acquired by US based Cadence Semiconductor in 2013. HCL acquire Sankalp Semiconductor in 2019, but like most major Indian companies they have done nothing worth much yet. Maybe Jio can make a change, they do have the financial guns for it.

Jio may not go the whole hog by developing tech in house / acquiring it thru M&A to challenge Qualcomm, etc for that is exactly what got Huawei into a soup in the first place. This is a long term game. The US & it's allies prefer having critical technologies vested with their organizations instead of seeing foreign powers with which it may not necessarily have hostile relations have domain knowledge & control. Jio knows this & will tread carefully.

 

[RISING SUN]

A fully formal ban may not materialize immediately as these companies require a transitional time to rid themselves completely of equipment from Huawei / ZTE.

Who knows we may even see past players like Tatas, etc moving in with Airtel, Vodafone to shore up their balance sheets & pick up a strategic stake.

Sometimes government gives unofficial advisories to industry players, when it doesn't want to publicly ban someone or organisation and avoid scrutiny from WTO or other dispute resolution mechanisms. Handy tool. PRC uses this most of the time, now they're getting it back with interest.

 

[Sathya]

Undoubtedly a good step but it will have side-effects. One of the most obvious ones is this :

Without Huawei and ZTE in India, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea's battle against Jio to become tougher | Business Insider India

India may not have officially declared a ban, but Chinese network equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE are being pushed out of the country. The impetus on driving Chinas technology out of the country comes amidst border tensions along the Line of Actual Control LAC that has crossed the...

www.businessinsider.in

@Ashwin @_Anonymous_ @randomradio @Sathya et al.....
Have a look at this:


5G: After receiving Rs 1.55 lakh crore, Mukesh Ambani eyes to buy homegrown companies

Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

By Muntazir Abbas
ET Telecom
August 25, 2020, 16:31 IST


NEW DELHI: Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

"Some of the domestic companies have recently received business proposals from Reliance Industries which want to acquire local firms developing 5G technology-based solutions," an industry source told ETTelecom. Indian firms such as Vihaan Networks, Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd.(HFCL), Lekha Wireless, Signal Chip, Saankhya Labs, Resonous, Nivetti, Mymo Wireless and Niral Networks are in the advance stage to develop open-source based 5G solutions.

Bengaluru-based Saankhya Labs is currently developing an open radio access network (O-RAN)-based cognitive scalable 5G solution which includes multi-band remote radio units with advanced analytics capabilities that it already plans to unveil early next year. Saankhya Labs, however, denied any such discussions with Reliance Industries, but added that it would be interested if a right investment move is made out to the company.

"Jio is looking at Indian companies that are in the final stages to develop 5G components or radio network products since a start from scratch will only drag the final outcome to almost four years," another person said.

Reliance Jio did nor respond to a query.

In 2018, Reliance bought the US-based Radisys to accelerate innovation and technology leadership in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and open-source based architecture adoption, and its push for local enterprises would further build on company's acquired capabilities.

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/5g-after-receiving-rs-1-55-lakh-crore-mukesh-ambani-eyes-to-buy-homegrown-companies/77741557

Looks like Jio's 5G software suite, network architecture and design is ready. They seem to be moving to solve their 5G hardware issues. The companies listed here combined can make everything needed to get the 5G network rolling. The only thing missing is mass scaled PCB manufacturing. In India there is only one major mass scale pure play PCB manufacturer, VVDN technologies. It is rumoured that VVDN is in conversation with Jio for a hardware deal. Not sure what hardware though.

If these "buy outs" go through. Jio's position as a 5G telecom gear supplier is sealed. It would put them in a unique position globally. Jio's tech is O-RAN based thus significantly cheaper than the proprietary hardware/software from traditional suppliers. On top of that barring Radisys, most of the R&D of the 5G network has been done in India. Labour prices will come into play here, doing R&D in India is cheaper. Thus Jio's 5G O-RAN will be cheaper that Rakuten's to build and maintain. Also if the buy out goes through, Jio will have hardware design and manufacturing capability that Rakuten doesn't have.

The main selling point of the Chinese firms on 5G is the low prices. Jio is known to do the same, infact cheap (or even free) tariff is the USP of Jio. Ambani is also known to use every under-handed tactics that the Chinese employ while doing business. Who knows how this might end, especially with the Huawei getting banned left and right.

Companies like Signalchip and Saankhya Labs design their own chips and own complete IP of it. They get the chips manufactured by Samsung and/or TSMC. These guys are like ARM and Qualcomm baked into one. ARM designs/owns the IP for the ISA of the chips. Qualcomm further builds on the chips and makes FPGA and SoCs for phone and tablet makers.

Signalchip and Saankhya does both. In fact Saankhya does more than that. They also make the final product using the chips, sometime by themselves sometimes with a partner like Cyient. With Cyient they managed to make Software Defined Radios(SDRs) for the military and make a sale to the Army. Given the mess that is Indian defence procurement, a small company managing to score a major deal of a critical equipment is no small feat. That too from the Army. They have earned my respect. Saankhya has started working on Cognitive O-RAN, one of proposed technologies for 6G, already

If nurtured well these companies might as well turn into globally competitive fabless semi-conductor companies. If Jio manages to get their hands on them, it will over night transform Jio into a fabless semi-conductor giant. They would be in position to take on Qualcomm for mobile processors within months of acquisition assuming Jio is willing to invest in this sphere.

In either case this is better than getting acquired by foreign companies. I remember an upcoming Indian fabless company Cosmic Circuits was acquired by US based Cadence Semiconductor in 2013. HCL acquire Sankalp Semiconductor in 2019, but like most major Indian companies they have done nothing worth much yet. Maybe Jio can make a change, they do have the financial guns for it.

Hope Mukesh enter the R & D sphere, something which our companies have NOT been grandly successful.

Saankhya in sanskrit means Numeric, just googled it.

 

[RISING SUN]

Jio may not go the whole hog by developing tech in house / acquiring it thru M&A to challenge Qualcomm, etc for that is exactly what got Huawei into a soup in the first place. This is a long term game. The US & it's allies prefer having critical technologies vested with their organizations instead of seeing foreign powers with which it may not necessarily have hostile relations have domain knowledge & control. Jio knows this & will tread carefully.

I am mostly in favor of domestic firms getting priority, however seeing Jio grabbing most of the market & technology, I feel, somehow we are going to face technological monopoly in future, more diversification is needed, especially from other competitors or new entrants.

 

[randomradio]

Undoubtedly a good step but it will have side-effects. One of the most obvious ones is this :

Without Huawei and ZTE in India, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea's battle against Jio to become tougher | Business Insider India

India may not have officially declared a ban, but Chinese network equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE are being pushed out of the country. The impetus on driving Chinas technology out of the country comes amidst border tensions along the Line of Actual Control LAC that has crossed the...

www.businessinsider.in

@Ashwin @_Anonymous_ @randomradio @Sathya et al.....
Have a look at this:


5G: After receiving Rs 1.55 lakh crore, Mukesh Ambani eyes to buy homegrown companies

Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

By Muntazir Abbas
ET Telecom
August 25, 2020, 16:31 IST


NEW DELHI: Asian bilionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has made 'buyout proposals' to a few homegrown companies developing fifth-generation (5G) solutions in its ambition to launch locally-build next generation networks, as a part of Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign.

"Some of the domestic companies have recently received business proposals from Reliance Industries which want to acquire local firms developing 5G technology-based solutions," an industry source told ETTelecom. Indian firms such as Vihaan Networks, Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd.(HFCL), Lekha Wireless, Signal Chip, Saankhya Labs, Resonous, Nivetti, Mymo Wireless and Niral Networks are in the advance stage to develop open-source based 5G solutions.

Bengaluru-based Saankhya Labs is currently developing an open radio access network (O-RAN)-based cognitive scalable 5G solution which includes multi-band remote radio units with advanced analytics capabilities that it already plans to unveil early next year. Saankhya Labs, however, denied any such discussions with Reliance Industries, but added that it would be interested if a right investment move is made out to the company.

"Jio is looking at Indian companies that are in the final stages to develop 5G components or radio network products since a start from scratch will only drag the final outcome to almost four years," another person said.

Reliance Jio did nor respond to a query.

In 2018, Reliance bought the US-based Radisys to accelerate innovation and technology leadership in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and open-source based architecture adoption, and its push for local enterprises would further build on company's acquired capabilities.

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/5g-after-receiving-rs-1-55-lakh-crore-mukesh-ambani-eyes-to-buy-homegrown-companies/77741557

Looks like Jio's 5G software suite, network architecture and design is ready. They seem to be moving to solve their 5G hardware issues. The companies listed here combined can make everything needed to get the 5G network rolling. The only thing missing is mass scaled PCB manufacturing. In India there is only one major mass scale pure play PCB manufacturer, VVDN technologies. It is rumoured that VVDN is in conversation with Jio for a hardware deal. Not sure what hardware though.

If these "buy outs" go through. Jio's position as a 5G telecom gear supplier is sealed. It would put them in a unique position globally. Jio's tech is O-RAN based thus significantly cheaper than the proprietary hardware/software from traditional suppliers. On top of that barring Radisys, most of the R&D of the 5G network has been done in India. Labour prices will come into play here, doing R&D in India is cheaper. Thus Jio's 5G O-RAN will be cheaper that Rakuten's to build and maintain. Also if the buy out goes through, Jio will have hardware design and manufacturing capability that Rakuten doesn't have.

The main selling point of the Chinese firms on 5G is the low prices. Jio is known to do the same, infact cheap (or even free) tariff is the USP of Jio. Ambani is also known to use every under-handed tactics that the Chinese employ while doing business. Who knows how this might end, especially with the Huawei getting banned left and right.

Companies like Signalchip and Saankhya Labs design their own chips and own complete IP of it. They get the chips manufactured by Samsung and/or TSMC. These guys are like ARM and Qualcomm baked into one. ARM designs/owns the IP for the ISA of the chips. Qualcomm further builds on the chips and makes FPGA and SoCs for phone and tablet makers.

Signalchip and Saankhya does both. In fact Saankhya does more than that. They also make the final product using the chips, sometime by themselves sometimes with a partner like Cyient. With Cyient they managed to make Software Defined Radios(SDRs) for the military and make a sale to the Army. Given the mess that is Indian defence procurement, a small company managing to score a major deal of a critical equipment is no small feat. That too from the Army. They have earned my respect. Saankhya has started working on Cognitive O-RAN, one of proposed technologies for 6G, already

If nurtured well these companies might as well turn into globally competitive fabless semi-conductor companies. If Jio manages to get their hands on them, it will over night transform Jio into a fabless semi-conductor giant. They would be in position to take on Qualcomm for mobile processors within months of acquisition assuming Jio is willing to invest in this sphere.

In either case this is better than getting acquired by foreign companies. I remember an upcoming Indian fabless company Cosmic Circuits was acquired by US based Cadence Semiconductor in 2013. HCL acquire Sankalp Semiconductor in 2019, but like most major Indian companies they have done nothing worth much yet. Maybe Jio can make a change, they do have the financial guns for it.

Reliance is putting all that oil money to very good use. I get the feeling that a few of the other conglomerates will also make a beeline towards this business in the near future. So Reliance may not lack competition, which is very good news for India. Many of these companies are going to grow into giants over the coming decade. And not just small Indian companies, but even foreign companies can become targets of these conglomerates.

Coming to Jio, they are sitting on heaps of cash. AFAIK, Reliance invested $37B into Jio. With the stake sale this year, they have managed to recoup $21B. They can literally do anything they want in the electronics sector, including end-to-end manufacturing.

 

[Gautam]

Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition with a three-pronged attack

The country's second largest mobile services operator is launching a three-pronged attack in the battle to provide cost-effective, high-speed internet connectivity

By Surajeet Dasgupta|New Delhi Last Updated at August 25, 2020 06:03 IST

For Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest mobile service provider by market share, the battle with its chief rival Jio, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has shifted to newer frontiers. The first is protecting and expanding its lucrative enterprise business, where Jio is making aggressive entry steps, with global tie-ups over the past two weeks.

The second is a global investment in broadband satellite through UK-based OneWeb. The third is building proprietary 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology to compete with Jio’s plans to sell ...

Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition with a three-pronged attack

The country's second largest mobile services operator is launching a three-pronged attack in the battle to provide cost-effective, high-speed internet connectivity

www.business-standard.com

Did I read that right !?!?
Airtel is going with its own 5G O-RAN too. Now it depends what proprietary here means. They were buying radios from Altiostar with software support from Tech Mahindra. Does "proprietary" means their own network architecture with software and hardware procured from others ? What is the extent of their IP ownership. Damnit why are good articles always paywalled ?

 

[_Anonymous_]

Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition with a three-pronged attack

The country's second largest mobile services operator is launching a three-pronged attack in the battle to provide cost-effective, high-speed internet connectivity

By Surajeet Dasgupta|New Delhi Last Updated at August 25, 2020 06:03 IST
View attachment 17428

For Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest mobile service provider by market share, the battle with its chief rival Jio, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has shifted to newer frontiers. The first is protecting and expanding its lucrative enterprise business, where Jio is making aggressive entry steps, with global tie-ups over the past two weeks.

The second is a global investment in broadband satellite through UK-based OneWeb. The third is building proprietary 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology to compete with Jio’s plans to sell ...

Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition with a three-pronged attack

The country's second largest mobile services operator is launching a three-pronged attack in the battle to provide cost-effective, high-speed internet connectivity

www.business-standard.com

Did I read that right !?!?
Airtel is going with its own 5G O-RAN too. Now it depends what proprietary here means. They were buying radios from Altiostar with software support from Tech Mahindra. Does "proprietary" means their own network architecture with software and hardware procured from others ? What is the extent of their IP ownership. Damnit why are good articles always paywalled ?

With the kind of system architecture, Jio has planned & executed, I find it hard to believe that Airtel would be sleep walking. News of this magnitude can't be suppressed for long. Airtel must have been shopping around since some time. It's only now that these developments are making news. However, Airtel lacks deep pockets & with the kind of end to end integration Jio is undertaking , Airtel would definitely need to tie up with an entity with deep pockets.


I expect Airtel to approach Tatas or Walmart in the near future. Had the Indo Chinese imbroglio not occured, Alibaba would have been a sure shot bet.

 

[Gautam]

With the kind of system architecture, Jio has planned & executed, I find it hard to believe that Airtel would be sleep walking. News of this magnitude can't be suppressed for long. Airtel must have been shopping around since some time. It's only now that these developments are making news. However, Airtel lacks deep pockets & with the kind of end to end integration Jio is undertaking , Airtel would definitely need to tie up with an entity with deep pockets.

Airtel have been buying tech from everywhere. They bought Massive MIMO from Huawei, they are going to buy radios from Altiostar with software support from Tech Mahindra, recently signed deals with Amazon Web Services and Verizon etc.

Massive MIMO: Airtel and Vodafone Idea stake claim with deployment size - ET Telecom

Bharti Airtel has deployed more than 100 hops of enhanced MIMO microwave link based on the latest MIMO technology developed by Huawei, as per an official statement by Huawei India.

telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Which just leads to the question what exactly is proprietary about their network ? The Huawei Massive MIMO is out of the question now. So are they making their own Massive MIMO ?

Yet Airtel Africa is talking about deploying 5G in Nigeria. Given the differences in political situations will Airtel go with Huawei or ZTE there or will they follow the Indian model ?

Airtel speaks on its readiness for 5G technology in Nigeria

Airtel Africa Plc said it is almost fully ready for the implementation of the 5G network. Chief Executive Officer, Raghunath

nairametrics.com

They ought to be smarter & faster than what they are displaying now. Like Jio, if Airtel made a play to acquire some of the Indian companies they might have had a lot of the tech they needed or at least they would have forced Jio to spend a lot more to acquire the same tech. The only smart play I have seen from them is the acquisition of the OneWeb satellite company. Jio has no counter to this.

Even though that might run into some problems. For one Airtel is seeking landing rights for OneWeb's satellite signals in India. Given the UK govt. stake in OneWeb, will GoI agree ? Who knows ! Even if GoI agrees there is that whole problem of satellite based broadband internet relying on expensive ground reception systems. Unlike the satellite TV broadcast which took off and greatly expanded in India, satellite broadband internet never did. Thus ground reception equipment is still quite expensive.

If there was a tech to converge satellite TV broadcast and 5G broadband that would allow users to use TV reception equipment for internet too that would help satellite broadband take off in India. Guess who is working on such tech: Saankhya Labs, that Jio is gunning to buy out. Airtel had the satellite constellation already & the ground element that would make it work was being made in India by a small Indian company which they could have acquired or signed some deals with. But they sat there and now Jio might take it away.

 

[Gautam]

Some old articles about ITI & Tech Mahindra and their relationship with Rakuten. Tech Mahindra in partnership with Rakuten has a 5G test lab in Japan. That's where there equipment is deployed in Japan.

Tech Mahindra plans to foray into telecom equipment manufacturing

By: Kiran Rathee|Published: June 20, 2020 3:20 AM

“They are saying that their equipment has been deployed at some places in Japan but apart from that, no details have been shared with us,” said a source in the DoT.

A message sent to Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani remained unanswered at the time of going to press.

Tech Mahindra is planning to foray into telecom equipment manufacturing and it has already entered into an agreement with state-run ITI Ltd to manufacture 4G equipment. According to sources, senior officials of Tech Mahindra have held several meetings with Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officers, including telecom secretary Anshu Prakash, recently, indicating their manufacturing ambitions.

“In fact, the company is expressing confidence that in next 12 months, it will be able to manufacture equipment like 4G radio, etc in India. The company wants to offer its products to BSNL to start with,” said a source privy to the details.

A message sent to Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani remained unanswered at the time of going to press.

It must be mentioned that Tech Mahindra is already providing software solutions to telecom operators across the world. Comviva, a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, offers various mobility solutions but so far, the company has not entered into equipment manufacturing. Comviva is serving communication providers in different markets including Japan, North America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, etc with its offerings including wireless support system, messaging and system integration.

“They are saying that their equipment has been deployed at some places in Japan but apart from that, no details have been shared with us,” said a source in the DoT.

The source further added Tech Mahindra has also informed BSNL that it can commence manufacturing of 4G equipment soon through its partnership with ITI and other local firms. Gurnani is believed to have met BSNL CMD PK Purwar a couple of weeks ago, to discuss the plans and participation of Tech Mahindra in 4G rollout.

During a recent meeting of Niti Aayog on deployment of BSNL’s 4G network using local equipment, Manoranjan Mohapatra, CEO of Comviva, is believed to have presented a proposal to build a consortium of partners to offer a futuristic, competitive, open standard based telecom solution, which can also be offered to telecom operators globally.

The solution proposed by Tech Mahindra will be open standard, which will allow several vendors to connect into it and give option to the state-run firm not to depend on a single vendor.

The company plans to partner with local firms to form a consortium and wants assured business from BSNL in the 4G project, so that they can take the risks. BSNL 4G network should be software-differentiated and upgradable to 5G in future. The security standards should be extended to all other operators in India and operation and maintenance responsibility should also be given to the consortium.

The sources said the company is also seeking reasonable terms or prior experience, deployment scale, etc and payment terms should be viable for all small and medium partners who will take risk and invest in this capital-intensive project.

“The consortium is willing to give performance guarantee, as a part of securing timely payments,” the company is believed to have offered.

It must be mentioned that BSNL will be floating a revised tender for its 4G roll-out after incorporating all the Make in India norms. The rules give price advantage of around 20% to local firms. Meanwhile, the Niti Aayog wants that only locally designed and manufactured 4G equipment should be deployed by BSNL.

Tech Mahindra plans to foray into telecom equipment manufacturing

“They are saying that their equipment has been deployed at some places in Japan but apart from that, no details have been shared with us,” said a source in the DoT.

www.financialexpress.com

ITI, Tech Mahindra partner to develop 4G, 5G solutions

State-run ITI on Friday said it has partnered with IT services company Tech Mahindra to work together in the areas of 4G and 5G networks, smart cities, and health care services, to supplement the country’s call for self-reliance in telecoms.

By ET Telecom
June 26, 2020, 17:48 IST

NEW DELHI: State-run ITI on Friday said it has partnered with IT services company Tech Mahindra to work together in the areas of 4G and 5G networks, smart cities, and health care services, to supplement the country’s call for self-reliance in telecoms.

Under the partnership, the two companies will collaborate to create ‘Make in India’ stack for the upcoming 4G and 5G opportunities in India.

ITI said it will productionalize 4G upgradable to 5G Radio Access Network and related equipment in-line with the government’s call for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ whereas Tech Mahindra will be responsible for providing the software IPs, implementation and integration of services, operations and maintenance services.

“This partnership intends to jointly build a framework that will provide solutions of the upcoming wireless technologies to different telecom service providers in the country and also address business opportunities globally,” said ITI in a statement.

“The initiative is to build local competence by synergizing the offerings of ITI & Tech Mahindra to create a next-generation wireless stack that will help India to become self-sufficient in the area of telecommunications,” said RM Agarwal, Chairman & Managing Director, ITI Limited.

“The partnership will not only help to reduce dependency on import of telecom equipment from foreign countries but also address the concerns in building a strategic network for defense communication,” Agarwal further said.

“Through this partnership, we commit ourselves to the government’s initiative of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he added.

Sujit Baksi, Head APAC Business & President Corporate Affairs, Tech Mahindra, said that Tech Mahindra will provide its leading technologies and software capabilities to ITI to enable it to build wireless solutions for the next generation of networks.

“We are delighted to partner with ITI in this important initiative towards self-reliance in the area of technology,” Baksi added.

ITI, Tech Mahindra partner to develop 4G, 5G solutions - ET Telecom

State-run ITI on Friday said it has partnered with IT services company Tech Mahindra to work together in the areas of 4G and 5G networks, smart cities, and health care services, to supplement the country’s call for self-reliance in telecoms.

telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[RISING SUN]

A fully formal ban may not materialize immediately as these companies require a transitional time to rid themselves completely of equipment from Huawei / ZTE.

Who knows we may even see past players like Tatas, etc moving in with Airtel, Vodafone to shore up their balance sheets & pick up a strategic stake.

China pitches BRICS 5G base as India mulls Huawei ban
China has made a proposal to create what it has termed a BRICS innovation base to take forward 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cooperation among the five countries, as their Industry Ministers met virtually on Monday.
China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing "urged fellow nations, including India, to boost cooperation in areas including 5G and AI”, Chinese media reported, adding that China was "actively considering the establishment of a BRICS innovation base in China, in order to strengthen practical cooperation with the BRICS”.

The move could pose an awkward question for India, which is the only country in the grouping that is leaning towards excluding Chinese participation in the roll-out of India’s 5G network.

Russia has said it would work together with China on 5G, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying this month they were open to working with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, which has been largely banned by the United States.

In South Africa, Huawei is providing services to three of its telecom operators in the roll-out of their 5G networks. Brazil has allowed participation in trials but yet to take a final call, although Vice President Hamilton Mourao indicated this month they would likely allow Huawei considering that “more than a third of Brazil's 4G network [is run] by operators who use Huawei equipment”.

“Huawei has capacity above its competitors and we do not yet see U.S. companies capable of defeating international competition,” he said.

India is unlikely to allow Chinese participation in 5G, particularly in the wake of recent moves to tighten investment from China and to ban 59 Chinese apps, citing national security concerns. The ban, which followed the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley, cited a “threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India” posed by the Chinese apps. Indian intelligence assessments have also expressed concerns on the possible direct or indirect links of several Chinese companies, including Huawei, with the Chinese military.

China pitches BRICS 5G base as India mulls Huawei ban

With govt. considering excluding Huawei from country’s network, New Delhi may face a tricky choice

www.thehindu.com

 

[Gautam]

Another submarine cable coming up. This time in West Bengal :

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio gets nod for sub-sea cable gateway in Bengal

Top government officials present in the meeting said that the landing station is expected to transform West Bengal into a major IT and ITES hub, draw huge investments and generate employment.

www.hindustantimes.com

Airtel want to increase data tariffs. Jio won't do the same :

Jio-Google budget phone to play spoilsport for Airtel’s tariff hikes

The current trend of consuming 16GB of data a month for ₹160 is a tragedy, said Sunil Mittal.But the main hurdle for Airtel to impose hikes is getting the industry leader Jio to agree to the plan

www.livemint.com

Jio is launching a new device. A mesh router, basically a long range WiFi device. This one was designed and manufactured in India, unlike the previous ones that were made in Indonesia.


Jio Wi-Fi Mesh Router Surfaces Online With Price Details Ahead of Official Launch

Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router appears with a price tag of Rs. 2,499 on the Smart Consumer site.

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 25 August 2020 18:09 IST

This could be our first look at the Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router

HIGHLIGHTS

• Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router has been designed by an Indian manufacturer
• Jio has been testing its mesh offering for some time
• Jio already showcased its mesh network technology in a video

A Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router has surfaced on the Web along with details about its purported price and dimensions. The new development comes amidst the testing of a mesh network-based offering by Jio in India. The surfaced router has been designed by a Karnataka-based electronics manufacturer Neolync Electronics and is likely to work with separate mesh nodes to provide enhanced Internet coverage. JioFiber customers may get some new broadband plans that would work with its mesh offering and get unified, high-speed connectivity at their homes.

As spotted by telecom-focussed blog Telecom Talk, the Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router has been listed with a price tag of Rs. 2,499 on the Smart Consumer site, backed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The router has a Jio logo on top and includes indicators to provide status of Wi-Fi and LAN connectivity.

The Smart Consumer site also shows that the Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router is available on a pan-India basis. However, there is no such information on the official Jio site. Gadgets 360 has reached out to Jio for clarity on the launch of its Wi-Fi Mesh router and will update this space when the operator responds.

The surfacing of the Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router isn't the only reference suggesting the launch of the operator's mesh service in the country. In fact, the operator suggests its mesh network technology on the JioFiber site. “Enjoy the best Jio WiFi Mesh experience in every room of your home with JioWiFiMesh service,” the company said on its site. Furthermore, a video has been provided on YouTube since September last year that gives a glimpse of Jio's mesh service experience.

Similar to Jio, Airtel recently started offering its mesh technology which it calls Airtel Xstream Fiber Mesh. The telco has partnered with Linksys to offer a mesh system with three nodes that are touted to cover an area of 3,500 square feet. Moreover, Airtel users need to subscribe to its Rs. 24,999 annual rental plans to get the mesh system bundled with their broadband network.

Jio Wi-Fi Mesh Router Surfaces on the Web With Pricing Details

Jio Wi-Fi Mesh router appears with a price tag of Rs. 2,499 on the Smart Consumer site.

gadgets.ndtv.com

 

[Gautam]

Looking beyond Jio: Samsung struggles to grow network biz; slashes workforce

The Korean vendor had initially begun exploratory talks with older telcos in India last year for 4G and 5G technologies, but hasn't been able to reach a meaningful stage where a possibility to win new business could emerge.

By Danish Khan, ET Telecom
Updated: August 27, 2020, 15:14 IST

NEW DELHI: Samsung Electronics is looking to win new network business in India, having ended exclusive tie-up with Reliance Jio on 4G. The Korean telecom vendor, however, is set to face several challenges as it explores possibility with legacy telcos like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL, industry executives and analysts said. They said that Samsung is unlikely to benefit from any ban on Chinese gear vendors Huawei and ZTE in India and will still need to largely rely on Reliance Jio to secure new business around 5G technology, albeit at a reduced scale.

The Korean vendor had initially begun exploratory talks with older telcos in India last year for 4G and 5G technologies. While talks haven't yielded any result for Samsung in India, Airtel has recently decided to award new network business to Nokia, and Ericsson, which replaced Huawei in Rajasthan and Rest of Tamil Nadu telecom circles.

In India, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea operate in a multi-vendor environment, thereby opening up a window of opportunity to Samsung.

BSNL opportunity ?

Samsung is also looking to get a slice of BSNL’s 4G network, having bought the tender , which now stands scrapped to exclude Chinese vendors. The vendor may be looking to partner with an Indian IT company to bid for the BSNL's 4G network contract for over 50,000 sites through a multi vendor system integrator model, which is being considered by the Indian government, people familiar with the matter said. While Samsung may explore new business opportunities with legacy telcos, it has learnt to have laid off several hundred employees --largely third party workforce -- that were involved in Jio’s pan India network due to no new business coming from the 4G-only telco.

“Though Jio’s focus on developing in-house capabilities for 5G, especially on the 5G software-side will impact Samsung’s role in Jio’s 5G deployment, Jio might still rely on third-party vendors (most likely Samsung given its long-relationship) for 5G hardware,” Ashwinder Sethi, Principal at Analysys Mason told ET.

While it is now free to pursue opportunities in India beyond Reliance Jio, Samsung will still need to find a work-around to the challenge that it lacks 2G and 3G technology. “...incumbent operators are currently deploying single-RAN radio equipment which can support all of 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies...Samsung appears to be trying to convince operators to switch off legacy networks,” Sethi said.

Sethi added that a single RAN BTS is cheaper from an equipment perspective and also occupies less space on the site, thereby leading to lower tower rentals. “So Samsung might be more costly because operators will need some 2G equipment from another vendor if they are buying 4G from Samsung.”

There won't be any big opportunity for Samsung with legacy telecom operators in India unless it offers something noteworthy from a 5G (+4G) perspective such as a much lower total cost of 5G (and 4G) which makes up for the additional cost of 2G from another vendor, another industry executive said.

Workforce reduction in India

Since March, Samsung has laid off around 300-400 third-party employees that were hired for network-related projects for Reliance Jio, citing low project volume. The lay-off has impacted deployment and backend integration teams across India, impacting mid and junior level employees, people familiar with the matter said.

“Some senior employees were given severance packages comprising 6 months of advance salary instead of three-month salary as per the contract agreement,” an impacted employee said. Samsung didn't respond to ET's queries.

Jio partnership to continue

Samsung, which has been the largest 4G vendor in India in terms of volumes deployed with Jio, is likely to join hands with the Mukesh Ambani-led telco for 5G field trials. The 4G-only telco, however, has also submitted an application with the DoT to conduct 5G trials using its own 5G technology.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a recent report that Jio may depend on its 4G gear partner Samsung so that its 5G equipment is backward compatible. “If Samsung starts assembling/manufacturing 5G massive MIMO/RU in India (in its handset factory), then Jio’s entire 5G stack in theory would be ‘Made in India’,” said the report.

“For Samsung, since hopefully there would be no exclusivity clause like 4G, they will be more open to scale their offerings and pitching to other telcos. Likes of BSNL and other private 5G networks would be potential targets initially,” Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research said.

Shah, however, added co-existing with legacy networks could be a challenge but not a big one considering they have already won slots in North America where such a situation still exists and 2G or 3G is not completely shut down.

With 5G SA coming on, Samsung could look at winning circles in India which are more data-centric and most traffic can be moved to 4G/5G networks, Shah said, adding that the Korean company will have to play a long game in India.

Samsung is the world's fourth-largest 5G equipment maker behind Huawei, Ericsson of Sweden and Nokia of Finland. Huawei had the largest share in the 5G equipment market with 35.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020, followed by Ericsson with 24.8 percent, Nokia with 15.8 percent and Samsung with 13.2 percent, according to Dell'Oro.

Looking beyond Jio: Samsung struggles to grow network biz; slashes workforce - ET Telecom

Jio 5g: The Korean vendor had initially begun exploratory talks with older telcos in India last year for 4G and 5G technologies, but hasn't been able to reach a meaningful stage where a possibility to win new business could emerge.

telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[Gautam]

Telecom sector on way to to be a duopoly: Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, Bharti Airtel continue to beat Voda-Idea

By: Prachi Gupta
Published: August 27, 2020 1:28 PM

While RIL's telecom arm merely just a year back was the only operator to gain market share, Sunil Mittal Bharti's Airtel is also making a strong comeback with the telecom sector now heading towards becoming a duopoly instead of once feared monopoly.

Bharti Airtel increased its revenue market share by 200 bps as compared to FY20 levels while Reliance Jio gained market share by 470 bps from their last financial year’s levels of 33% and 38% respectively.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio is now not the only one emerging strong on India’s telecom scenario. While RIL’s telecom arm merely just a year back was the only operator to gain market share, Sunil Mittal Bharti’s Airtel is also making a strong comeback with the telecom sector now heading towards becoming a duopoly instead of once feared monopoly. In fact, both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have been witnessing an increase in their subscribers base now while Vodafone-Idea continues to shed users.

Bharti Airtel increased its revenue market share by 200 bps as compared to FY20 levels while Reliance Jio gained market share by 470 bps from their last financial year’s levels of 33% and 38% respectively, according to TRAI’s latest data on telecom sector. On the other hand, Vodafone Idea lost 580bps share, with its top three markets contributing to 60% of its market share loss, a report said on Thursday. “The magnitude and the nature of Voda-Idea’s market share loss indicates that the market is moving steadily towards a duopoly,” a Jefferies report said. Vodafone Idea’s sharp loss has driven its market share down to 21%, nearly half of what it was in FY17.

“Vodafone Idea saw sharp market share decline in metros and A-Circles, the key urban markets. Given that these markets have higher dual-sim users, it seems subscribers are consolidating their usage/spends away from Vodafone Idea in these markets,” the report said. Vodafone-Idea lost market share in Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat and reported 22-47% on-quarter decline in net revenues in these markets. However, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio has seen the highest growth in each of these markets.

Meanwhile, the telecom sector is one of the rarest sectors which has done better than others during the coronavirus pandemic. With people restrained in their homes, the telecom industry played a pivotal role in keeping people connected with the help of voice and data connection. The industry also tried to engage subscribers with entertainment options such as video streaming applications, online games among others. This, combined with ‘work from home’ practice for employees has resulted in average data consumption to touch all time high in Q1FY21, according to a separate report by CARE Ratings.

Telecom sector on way to to be a duopoly: Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, Bharti Airtel continue to beat Voda-Idea

While RIL's telecom arm merely just a year back was the only operator to gain market share, Sunil Mittal Bharti's Airtel is also making a strong comeback with the telecom sector now heading towards becoming a duopoly instead of once feared monopoly.

www.financialexpress.com

 

[Gautam]

Reliance speeds up Jio Fiber connection deployments

2020-08-26
By Sreejiraj Eluvangal

India broadband monthly additions by provider.

Reliance Jio, which started wired broadband operations in September last year, has started speeding up the roll-out of its Jio Fiber service after an initial slow-down.

The company started the service with around 8 lakh connections as of October end, most of which were converts from its trial service. Over the next two months, it added around 60,000 subscribers, taking its year-end wired broadband user base to 8.6 lakh. However, with the new year, Jio Fiber seemed to have hit some roadblock and lost 20,000 users in January this year, bringing its total down to 8.4 lakh.

In February too, the company’s broadband subscriber base remained static at 8.4 lakh with net addition remaining negligible during the month. This seeming ‘starting trouble’ had generated much disappointment among many would-be Jio Fiber users. Lakhs of users have been waiting for the service to be launched in their locality after registering on the company’s portal over the last two years.

In what may come as welcome news for such users, Jio has again accelerated the roll-out of the fiber broadband service. According to the latest numbers, it has given 70,000 new connections in May, the highest monthly addition for Jio Fiber after its initial phase. In fact, the number is also the highest monthly addition for any wired broadband player in India in recent times.

LOCKDOWN

Surprisingly is that this has been achieved during a month when the country was under a COVID-19 lock-down. Against the 70,000 new broadband users added in May, the company added 30,000 each in March and April, taking the total to 9.7 lakh by the end of May.

During the lock-down months of April and May, Jio was able to add 1 lakh broadband users to its fiber network while other, city-focused players actually lost broadband customers during this period. Airtel, for example, lost 30,000 broadband customers in April and another 30,000 in May. The Gurgaon-based company later explained that this was owing to the shut-down of shops and offices and it expected the connections to be reactivated later.

WIRELINE USERS

In addition to broadband numbers, Jio also disclosed the total number of wireline customers, including customers who were not availing of broadband services. Against the 1 lakh broadband users added in April and May, Jio added 1.42 lakh new wireline customers during the same period.

It is not clear what services the extra 42,000 users were doing on the network, given that they were not included in the broadband user base. It is possible that these may largely be voice-oriented commercial subscribers, such as shops and offices. As a result, by the end of May, Jio had 12.32 lakh wireline subscribers, out of which only 9.7 lakh were broadband customers.

In fact, the number of wireline users of Jio has shown a more consistent pattern of growth compared to the fluctuations seen in the broadband subscriber base. In May — the latest month for which data is available — Jio added 90,930 wireline users. This was considerably higher than the 50,722 it added in April, which in turn was considerably higher than the 32,086 it added in March. In February, it had added only 3,202 new wireline users.

STATE SPLIT

Out of the 1.42 lakh new wireline users added by the company in April and May, around 19,000 were in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, while 17,000 were in Karnataka. The state of Uttar Pradesh, which contributed around 22,000 new users, was another area of rapid growth for Jio. Mumbai, which accounts for about a fifth of the company’s current fiber subscriber base, added 14,500 new wireline users during the two months.

RIVALS

While Jio added 1.42 lakh new wired customers in April and May, Bharti Airtel lost 1.45 lakh wireline users during the same period, out of which around 60,000 were also consumers of Airtel broadband. Among the other wired broadband companies, ACT was the only one that was able to show numbers comparable to that of Jio’s.

ACT, however, did see a loss of around 20,000 broadband customers in April — possibly because its users dispersed from big cities into smaller towns. ACT is primarily focused on big cities and has limited presence in smaller towns.

However, the company was able to bounce back in May with an addition of 50,000 users. Nevertheless, ACT’s performance has been more consistent than that of Jio’s so far this year. While Jio struggled to retain users in the early part of the year, ACT has been adding customers at a consistent level.

In fact, in the first five months of 2020, ACT has added the highest number of wired broadband customers in India at 1.2 lakh, compared to 1.1 lakh for Jio Fiber. However, given the scale of investment by Jio and its considerable footprint, it is highly likely that Jio has since left ACT far behind as far as monthly additions are concerned. A confirmation of this will only come as numbers for June, July and August are revealed in the coming weeks.

Going by the current indications, it is likely that Jio is adding close to 1 lakh fiber broadband customers per month at present. The company will have to give at least 2 lakh new connections per month if it is to add 5 million households to its network in two years.

Reliance speeds up Jio Fiber connection deployments

ultra.news

 

[Gautam]

What is happening here ?

Keysight in pact with IIT to develop India specific 5G standards

Keysight Technologies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to support Telecom Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) in development of India specific 5G standards.

August 27, 2020

The MoU signing follows the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s recognition of the 5G Radio Interface Technology (RIT) introduced by TSDSI as a candidate 5G standard, Keysight said.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is funding a large-scale project called 5G Testbed in order to encourage Indian startups and the telecom industry to take an early lead in 5G business. The goal of the project is to build a test bed that closely resembles a real-world 5G deployment.

This project will create a 5G prototype and testing platform that will be developed under the guidance of more than 50 researchers and engineers based in the IIT Madras campus using equipment developed by Keysight Technologies.

Keysight is currently building on the functionality required for testing of new radio interface standards developed at IIT Madras.

“5G promises to open doors to exciting new applications in areas such as telemedicine, remote surgery, agriculture, education, Industry 4.0, smart cities, augmented reality, and autonomous driving,” Satish Dhanasekaran, president, Communications Solutions Group, said.

Keysight in pact with IIT to develop India specific 5G standards - TelecomLead

Keysight Technologies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to support Telecom Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) in development of India specific 5G standards. The MoU signing follows the International Telecommunication Union...

www.telecomlead.com