Reliance Jio wants to test its own 5G gear, seeks DoT approval: Report

Reliance Jio is seeking permission from the Department of Telecom (DoT) to lab test in-house 5G products.

Once they get a go ahead, Reliance Jio will have to handle the whole testing process on its own including setting up a test network on its premises since a third party cannot be involved at the lab-testing stage. (REUTERS)

Reliance Jio is looking to run tests on 5G products it has developed in-house and for this they are seeking permission from the Department of Telecom (DoT). Once they get a go ahead, Reliance Jio will have to handle the whole testing process on its own including setting up a test network on its premises since a third party cannot be involved at the lab-testing stage.

According to reports, Reliance Jio, which is only 4G equipped for now, has not heard from the DoT yet. The lab tests the telco wants to run require a non-radiating spectrum but they will still have to get DoT's approval to use it. They will also need to import gear for these tests and will also need DoT to approve that.

However, Jio is not the only telco that has applied for 5G field trials, they have reportedly filed five applications. Airtel and Vodafone Idea have applied as well and DoT is yet to give a go ahead to any of them.

Jio has developed its own 5G tech to reduce dependence on foreign vendors and for cost-related advantages. According to analysts, this is the first time a mobile phone company has developed in-house technology to replace third-party vendors.

A person close to the developments at Jio told ETTelecom that they have developed all things end-to-end around 5G tech and are more scalable than third-party vendors, also more automated since they have their own cloud-native platform.

Jio has also designed its own 5G hardware that can be made in India once 5G trials are successfully over.