Standalone(SA) and Non-standalone(NSA) in 5G: Why did Jio choose a different course?

Other private telecom companies, such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have specified that they will use 5G NSA, Jio on the other hand is opting for 5G SA.

Basic Distinction:

One can infer something from the names themselves. A network that requires its own independent infrastructure and is capable of standing alone is referred to as 5G standalone(SA). While the 5G non-standalone (NSA) standard needs a 4G core to operate. Telecom operators who already operate a 4G technology can swiftly transition to a 5G NSA network without incurring significant infrastructure costs. However, the cost of deploying infrastructure increases dramatically with 5G SA, and will also take longer.

Jio, like it mentioned in its AGM, 2022 recently, aims to bring out 5G services all across India by December 2023 and in a few major cities by Diwali this year. If that happens successfully, 5G would become a part of Indian customers' daily lives soon enough. But the customers will experience two different forms of 5G. While the other private telecom companies, such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have specified that they will use 5G NSA, Jio on the other hand is opting for 5G SA. Let's try to comprehend Jio's decision to choose a different course.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of RIL, stated that Jio is choosing 5G SA because 5G NSA does not provide any enhanced performance. It's also important to note here that despite the fact that SA infrastructure incurs more cost, Reliance Jio is capable of meeting those expenses.

When compared to 5G NSA, 5G SA is unquestionably costlier as a means of providing 5G to customers. Jio is choosing 5G SA over NSA clearly because of the accomplishments of a 5G SA network, as opposed to all other operators that are choosing 5G NSA.

Furthermore, Jio is currently transitioning to 5G SA, which any 5G NSA operator will eventually need to accomplish. Jio may face a few difficulties in the situation, such as the absence of a 5G ecosystem of devices that support SA networks. Since SA structure does not require 4G LTE to function, it is knoqn to consume less energy. Additionally, 5G SA can also enable more 5G use cases than NSA networks are capable of.