Centre plans to set up 100 5G labs in India, says Telecom Minister

The minister also asked the telecom companies participating in the Indian Mobile Congress to provide their input for the new telecom bill through which the government aims to simplify licensing regime.

“We are going to set up 100 5G labs across the country. I request the telecom industry to come together and convert at least 12 of these 100 labs into telecom incubators to train students and do experiments,” Vaishnaw said as quoted by PTI.

He also said that the government is working significantly towards simplifying the licensing regime for all telecom players. “I am really happy to see the energy of startups and MSMEs, who are going to rural areas to benefit people,” he added.

At the event, indigenous telecom gear maker HFCL announced the launch of 5G Lab-as-a-Service to accelerate the rollout of 5G solutions and services. It will provide an automated test environment for the private sector, academia and government to work together on product innovations from concept to reality.

PM Modi on Saturday launched 5G services in the country, ushering in an era of ultra high-speed internet on mobile phones. He said that a total of 130 crore Indians are getting a wonderful gift in the form of 5G from the country and from the telecom industry of the country.

He said that the use of 5G technology will not be limited to speedy internet access, but has the capability to change lives.

He also urged the leaders of the telecom industry association to visit schools and colleges of the country and unleash every aspect of this new technology and asked them to create an enabling ecosystem for MSMEs to prepare spare parts for electronic manufacturing.

The prime minister pointed out that India was dependent on other countries for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, but with 5G, India has created a new history. “With 5G, India is setting a global standard in telecom technology for the first time,” he remarked.

(With PTI inputs)