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‘Aatmanirbhar 5G’: IT minister ‘successfully’ makes first 5G call, hails PM Modi
The 5G test-bed was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday. It has been developed as a multi-institute collaborative project by eight institutes led by IIT Madras, and set up at a cost of nearly ₹220 crore.
Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday made the first 5G call on a trial network set up at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. “Aatmanirbhar 5G. Successfully tested 5G call. Entire end to end network is designed and developed in India,” he later wrote on Twitter.
In a video that he shared with the post, Vaishnaw can be seen making a call and talking over the phone to a person present in the room as a large number of people and media persons looked on.
Addressing those around him, the minister later said that the success of the call should be credited to the “realisation” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.
“His vision is to have our own 4G (and) 5G technology developed in India, made in India, and made for the world. We have to win the world with this entire technology,” Vaishnaw is heard saying in the video.
The minister later retweeted the video, and wrote, “The 4G and 5G network developed in India is an attempt to prove PM Narendra Modi ji's resolve of seal-reliant India.”
Last year, during a media event, the IT minister had said the auction for the 5G spectrum is expected to happen around April to May in 2022. This was confirmed by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Budget presentation earlier this year.
“Spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022-23 by private telecom providers. A scheme for design-led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme,” she said.
According to a PTI report, the Department of Telecom is likely to move the 5G spectrum auction proposal to the Union cabinet for the final nod next week. The roll-out of 5G services is likely to commence by August to September this year.
At present, telecom companies are permitted to only conduct trials of 5G services.
Earlier this week, a 5G test-bed was inaugurated by Modi to enable startups and industry players to test and validate their products locally and cut down dependence on foreign resources. It has been developed as a multi-institute collaborative project by eight institutes, led by IIT Madras, and set up at a cost of nearly ₹220 crore.
