Recent Indo-US agreements pave the way for Jio’s 5G stack exports

On the back of the recent Indo-US tech agreements, Reliance Jio is looking at exporting its ‘made-in-India’ end-to-end 5G stack and radio, according to people aware of the matter. Once the export of telecom stack starts, it would open another revenue stream for the company.

India and US have entered into agreements on areas like creating secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, enabling global digital inclusion, and open RAN trials, which will help local telecom solutions providers like Jio to establish their foothold in other countries.

Domestic companies can also benefit from the equipment replacement opportunity globally given that the countries are moving more towards trusted sources of equipment. Prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, Jio had submitted details to the government regarding the readiness of its own 5G solutions and how it can contribute to the India-US partnership, according to government officials.

Lately, Jio has created a full 5G solution that includes everything needed for a 5G network, such as the 5G radio, a complete 5G core network, cloud infrastructure setup, and platforms to support cloud-based operations.

While Jio has developed its own solutions, it has not started mass deployment of the same in its 5G rollout and is banking on partners like Nokia and Ericsson, sources said.

Queries sent to Reliance Jio did not elicit any response till the time of going to the press.“Jio has all the resources with them to supply their own designed solutions to other countries. The company, however, will have to first test and deploy its solutions in India and get a certification for that before it can start exporting,” said Rakesh Bhatnagar, director general of VoICE consortium.

Bhatnagar, who also heads the government-appointed taskforce on new telecom equipment opportunities, advised the government on the contours of the India-US telecom partnership and how domestic telecom solution firms including equipment makers can benefit from the opportunity.

Last year, Reliance Industries arm Reliance Strategic Business Ventures formed a joint venture with US-based Sanmina Corporation to produce 4G and 5G equipment for global and domestic markets. The Reliance arm had said it will invest Rs 1,670 crore in the joint venture. Financial Express