Vodafone Idea (Vi), along with its technology partner, Nokia, has successfully conducted a 5G trial. The trial utilised 5G in the 3.5GHz spectrum band allocated by the government for 5G trials, to provide rural broadband connectivity in Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
As part of the trials, Vi successfully provided 5G connectivity across an area covering 17.1 kilometres while delivering speeds of more than 100Mbps.
Vi is using Nokia’s air-scale radio portfolio and microwave E-band solution for the trial that support enterprises, both large and small and medium businesses with reliable connectivity. Nokia’s high gain fixed wireless access (FWA) customer premises equipment (CPE) enables operators to extend ultra-high-speed and low latency 5G connectivity to remote and rural areas.
Commenting on the development, Jagbir Singh, chief technology officer, VIL, said, “Accelerated digitalisation over the last two years has led to growing dependency on high-speed broadband and an urgency to connect the unconnected. Vi GigaNet, India’s fastest network, is enabling users in urban and rural areas, and enterprises, to stay ahead in this digital era. With our 5G ready network and our partner Nokia’s, field-proven solution, we are now working on providing solutions and use cases based on high-speed 5G coverage in rural areas.”
Meanwhile, Sanjay Malik, senior vice president and head of India market, Nokia, said, “Our Fixed Wireless Access 5G solution is enabling service providers, like Vodafone Idea, to extend 5G coverage to remote areas, plug coverage gaps and increase service levels in rural areas. Vodafone Idea is our long-standing partner and we are pleased to support them in successfully testing 5G for delivering high-speed connectivity in rural areas.”
