Ericsson Starts 5G Equipment Exports from Pune Plant

New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) Telecom gear maker Ericsson said Thursday it has started exporting 5G-ready telecom equipment from its manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra, to markets in Southeast Asia.

The initial shipments consisting of Ericsson's 5G-ready radio base stations and microwave equipment for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies have been delivered to Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, the company said. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress 2018.

On the Day 1 of the flagship event, many companies put up demonstrations of various use cases of 5G technology. A government statement said over three lakh jobs are expected to be created.

5G technology promises to enable dramatic improvements in data speeds and network latency. It is also expected to enhance communication between machines and sensors.

"Ericsson is looking to add more Southeast Asia markets to its list of countries to which its facility in India exports products from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio," Nunzio Mirtillo, Head of Ericsson South East Asia, Oceania and India, said.

Ericsson had set up its manufacturing facility in Chakan, Pune in 2016 with an initial investment of USD 20 million. The unit has been catering to the domestic demand so far and the company plans to ramp up capacity once the export volumes pick up.

Samsung Electronics President and Head of Networks Business Youngky Kim said the company will commence large-scale 5G trials in India in the first quarter of 2019.

"It will be the first step towards making 5G a reality in India...5G will be the key to bring smart factories, smart cities and smart agriculture to the new, digitalised India," he said.

Samsung has played a key role in building Reliance Jio's 4G LTE network. Kim said Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani's vision of ‘data is oxygen' has been the driving engine to make India's 4G revolution possible.

"By Diwali, this network will reach 99 per cent of the population...This Jio-Samsung LTE network handles over 90 petabytes of data traffic every day, which is equivalent to 600 billion photographs shared on social media every single day," he said adding that 4G is the essential baseline and vital foundation for 5G.

Samsung and Reliance Jio put up a 5G live demo of a skyship drone to showcase applications in public safety and surveillance, agriculture monitoring and disaster response.

The second edition of IMC has seen participation from over 300 companies across 20 countries.

India is at the cusp of a digital revolution, with disruptions happening in each and every sector and industry, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said.

"With growing smartphone and internet penetration and with the finalisation of National Digital Communication Policy 2018, these are exciting times for the telecom sector, and the society at large," he added.

IMC 2018 will not only attract investors, it will also witness the launch of several innovative products, encourage emerging startups, and promote futuristic technologies, he further stated.

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