MediaTek intends to collaborate with partners in order to lower the cost of FWA consumer premises equipment (CPE), such as routers. Anku Jain, Managing Director of MediaTek India, highlighted the opportunity to bring broadband connectivity to rural areas lacking fibre connectivity. Jain further stressed the necessity of collaboration in resolving the cost issue and making 5G FWA a reality.
Despite Jain’s lack of specifics, MediaTek is known to collaborate with telecom operators and might potentially partner with Indian telcos on 5G FWA business.
5G fixed broadband is viewed as a critical use case for monetizing fifth-generation mobile networks. However, the cost of FWA CPE continues to be a considerable barrier.
According to Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal, the economics of FWA remain unappealing due to the high cost of the equipment.
Qualcomm, MediaTek’s competitor, has teamed with Reliance Jio for its 5G FWA solution, Jio AirFiber.
MediaTek also stated that the cost of 5G smartphones is one of the barriers that will be reduced as volume increases. With the introduction of 5G networks, the corporation claims to see an opportunity in the Internet of Things (IoT), particularly in regard to Industry 4.0 use cases.
5G development in India is accelerating. The Indian government declared in 2022 that spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz and 26 GHz bands would be allocated for the implementation of 5G networks. This was followed by a spectrum auction in these bands in June 2022.
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are the three major telecom providers in India that have won spectrum in the 5G auction. They are currently constructing their 5G networks.
In September 2022, Reliance Jio was the first operator in India to offer commercial 5G services. It has so far deployed its 5G network in 13 cities. In the following months, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are likely to launch their 5G services.
The government has set a goal of bringing 5G to 600 cities by 2025. It also intends to establish a 5G testbed at IIT Madras to aid in the development of indigenous 5G technology.
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