Lok Sabha Question No. 2813 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: 4G, 5G and E-band Spectrum
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Abdul Khaleque

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2813 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 RD  AUGUST, 2022

## 4G, 5G AND E-BAND SPECTRUM

## 2813.   SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  priority  is  being  given  to  Indian  Business  with  respect  to  the  development  of 4G,5G and E-band spectrums; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the details of the kind of projects being funded?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) The Government is facilitating Indian technology companies for the development of  4G,  5G  and  E-Band  spectrum  products  and  solutions  through  various  initiatives  including funding, hackathon, pilots.

There are indigenous technology companies who are working on different system of 4G, 5G and E-Band network products. The Government has approved the funding for the 5G and EBand  technologies  under  its  Digital  Communication  Innovation  Square  (DCIS)  scheme  with defined milestones and deliverables.

In line with Atmanirbhar initiative of the Government, BSNL was directed to deploy Indian Core  for  4G  network.  BSNL  conducted  a  detailed  Proof  of  Concept  (PoC)  of  indigenous  4G technologies in its network. Indian entities viz. Tejas, C-DoT supported by M/s TCS for system integration have successfully completed majority of the standards requirements for a carrier class 4G mobile network in line with 3GPP specifications.

To  promote  manufacturing  of  Telecom  and  Networking  products  in  the  country,  the Government has notified Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme on 24.02.2021 with financial outlay  of  Rs.  12,195  crores  over  scheme  period.  The  scheme  is  targeted  to  boost  domestic manufacturing of specified  telecom  and  networking  products  which  includes  4G/5G  products. With the objective to build a strong ecosystem for 5G, the scheme guidelines have been amended to facilitate design-led manufacturing of 5G products in the country.

The  Department  of  Telecommunications  (DoT)  hosted  a  5G  Hackathon  in  developing solutions  to  enhance  the  technology  adoption  and  create  new  usecases  using  5G  technology capabilities. DoT has selected 30 top applicants who have been connected with Telecom Service Providers for demonstration of their products/applications in the 5G trials.

The Government has also approved the funding to carry out pilots of the 4G and E-Band products in rural areas under the pilot scheme of Universal Service Obligation Funding (USOF). The pilot projects are envisaged to provide mobile coverage and extend high speed connectivity in rural areas.

The  Government  also  funded  development  of  an  indigenous  5G  testbed  by  prominent academic and research institutions working in the space of the technology. It can be used for testing indigenous products, anywhere in the 5G chain, and also for enabling technology proliferation for Indian entities.

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