Reliance Jio Starts 5G Trials in Mumbai Using Local Equipment

Just a day after Bharti Airtel switched on its 5G trial network in Gurugram, Reliance Jio has also switched on its 5G trials network using its own 5G equipment and technology in Mumbai.

Reliance Jio Joins the 5G Party

In the coming days, Jio will launch other networks in 5G trials with vendors like Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia. Notably, Jio had applied for trials in Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat and Hyderabad.

Yesterday, Jio’s rival Bharti Airtel also switched on its 5G trial network in Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub, in partnership with Ericsson. That site is delivering throughput of over 1 Gbps. Also, the site is using the sub-6 GHz trial 5G spectrum allocated by DoT. Along with Gurugram, Airtel also received 5G trial spectrum in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

A senior executive, on condition on anonymity, said, "the network went live quickly after receiving a trial spectrum from the DoT. We are using both mid and mmWave bands with standalone architecture for 5G trials in Mumbai". The person said that Jio manufactured 5G equipment in India with the help of local partners.

They added that Jio's trial is much bigger than their rivals in terms of sites deployed in Mumbai.

Recently, DoT allocated spectrum for 5G trials in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands to the three private telcos.

Reliance Jio's 5G Readiness

RIL's recent annual report stated that Jio has already developed an end-to-end 5G stack, including 5G radio and core network solutions. RIL also revealed that the telco completed the solution's testing, which will now enable a self-sufficient and cost-effective rollout. Moreover, Jio Platforms is also working with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) on standardising 5G device configurations.

Reliance Jio’s parent, Jio Platforms, recently partnered with Qualcomm Technologies to manufacture "critical" 5G equipment locally. The companies have previously partnered to develop "open and interoperable" interface compliant architecture based 5G solutions, with a virtualized RAN. They also achieved the 1 Gbps milestone on the Jio 5G NR solution using the chipmaker's 5G RAN Platforms.