5G coming by 2020: IIT Delhi, Ericsson join hands to take India's digital age further

As India develops digitally with telecom operators offering 4G services to masses at affordable rates, Ericsson and IIT Delhi have joined hands to take the Indian digital age even further by jointly rolling out a 5G for India program.

The move is aimed to push PM Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative. Under the memorandum, Ericsson has agreed to set up a Centre of Excellence with a 5G test bed and incubation Centre at IIT-Delhi and use this facility to drive the development of the country's 5G ecosystem. Meanwhile, in addition to hosting the Center of Excellence, IIT Delhi will conduct research and development to explore how some of the country's challenges can be addressed with mobile technologies and how smart cities can be developed.

"The programme will focus on delivering research, innovation and industrial pilots that use next-generation 5G networks as an enabler. It will help initiate cross-industry research collaborations focused on the integration of ICT in industry processes, products and services," Paolo Colella, Head of Region India at Ericsson, said.

The first series of tests is due to begin in the second half of 2017 in India and will place the country on par with other developed countries in terms of 5G network and application deployment.

Globally, limited deployment and 5G trials are expected to start by mid-2018 while commercial availability is slated for 2020.