Atmanirbhar Bharat: Telecom Minister R S Prasad Urges Telcos To Adopt Indian Suppliers For Core Of Their 5G Networks

Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday (28 January) made a push for the Indian telecom companies to adopt Indian suppliers for their 5G cores, reports Economic Times.

The core is considered the brain of the network. Making a push in line with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's clarion call for the building of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, Prasad stressed that the core of the Indian 5G network should also be Indian.

Prasad asserted that India should expedite the introduction of the next-generation technology with domestically made telecom equipment. He also said that the testbed for 5G in India was ready and that the government would soon grant permissions for trials to begin.

"We lagged behind in 2G, 3G and 4G but in 5G India should move at a speed faster than the world with made in India 5G," he said.

Prasad made the pitch while speaking at an event of the National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI).

Prasad's comments came on the day when telecom major Bharti Airtel announced that it was ready to commercially roll-out 5G services in the next few months upon government's approvals. The company said that it has tested the technology in Hyderabad over its existing spectrum in the 1,800 Mhz band.