Intel Join Hands with Reliance Jio, Will Work on 5G Network Tech

On Monday, Intel Corp announced that it will work with India's Reliance Jio to develop 5G networking technology.

Intel to Work with Jio on 5G

Last year, Intel invested $250 million in Jio Platforms, parent company of Reliance Jio. Intel had said that the two companies will find areas of technology partnership. The chipmaker also said on Monday that it will work with Jio for the latter's 5G RAN, among other things.

Navin Shenoy, EVP and GM, Data Platforms Group, Intel, told Reuters, "this is the fruit of that partnership". He added, "5G in India is going to be massive, and (Reliance Jio) are doing it in a non-legacy way".

Incidentally, Reliance Jio is one of the carriers around the world that are approaching 5G in their own way. Telcos are moving away from buying gear from telecom-specific firms such as Nokia and Ericsson. What's more, these telcos are moving to software solutions so that they can handle more network functions. These software solutions also allow them to tap the same computing equipment used in data centers to run the networks.

Over the last few years, Intel has been losing ground in core data center and PC markets to rivals such as AMD after years of manufacturing troubles. However, networking chips have become increasingly important for its business, growing 20% in 2020 to account for $6 billion of its $77.9 billion in overall sales.

Dan Rodriguez, GM, Network Platforms Group, Intel, said that part of that growth has come from Intel's decision nearly a decade ago to invest in software akin to an operating system for its network chips. Called FlexRAN, this system lets carriers or software firms write code for 5G networks. Intel also said that the software from Cohere Technologies can double the utilization of some network spectrum with Intel's Chips. This will help telcos utilize less spectrum for more capacity, leading to less spends on spectrum.