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Last week was particularly dominated by the speculation around 5G spectrum pricing, and Qualcomm's Global Summit. Here is a catch-up for the last week.
May 17th - Apprehension Over 5G Spectrum and Cyclone Tauktae; Jio to Set up Largest Undersea Cable
Last Monday, the telcos said that they are unsure whether they will receive any of the trial spectrum commercially. This statement came after the government said yes to the 5G trials in the country. Also, DoT handed out spectrum in sub-GHz, mid-range and mmWave bands for experimental use.
The TSPs said that they cannot spend time, effort and money to develop use cases around these mmWave bands without any commercial commitment from the government’s side.
Industry experts warned of a unaffordable 5G network in the absence of mmWave spectrum. They say that deployment costs would jump manifold because of omission of these waves.
On the other side, as the cyclone closed in to the shores of Gujarat, leaving in its wake destruction on India's west coast, telcos shored up their efforts to maintain connectivity. To that extent, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea set up war rooms with special teams.
Also, on the same day, Reliance Jio announced its plans to connect India to the Europe and Asia via two undersea cables. The telco is partnering with submarine cable supplier SubCom to set up the world's largest undersea network. Notably, the telco is currently deploying two next generation cables to support the extraordinary growth in data demand across the region.
May 18th - Bharti Airtel Post Profits; BIF Explores WiFi Opportunities; DoT Looking for Fresh Spectrum Pricing
The second day of the week proved a busy one, as Bharti Airtel posted net profits for the second quarter in a row. The telco posted a net profit of Rs 759 crore in the October-December period. However, the profit was slightly down from Rs. 854 crore in the previous quarter.
The telco attributed that loss to the absence of interconnection usage charges which dragged average revenue per user (ARPU) lower. Airtel’s quarterly revenue fell 2.9% Q-o-Q to Rs. 25,747 crore. This loss was also due IUC being absent, which became zero from January 1, 2021.
A BIF report projected that WiFi services can generate an economic value of Rs 12.7 lakh crore by 2025. The report said that if higher frequency spectrum are delicensed, they can generate the said value.
May 19th - Huawei to Help Employees amid COVID-19; COAI Gauges Damage From Cyclone
On Wednesday, Huawei announced its list of initiatives to help its employees and their beneficiaries to fight COVID-19. First, the company has set up an Emergency Team. Also, the company has set up a dedicated portal for COVID-19 care. There are many other initiatives the telecom vendor has started to help its employees.
On the other side, the telcos via COAI said that they are working closely with the telecom department and service providers to limit the damage and impact of Cyclone Tauktae. Further, COAI has also enabled Priority Call Routing, which is helping government officials to coordinate and execute restoration work.
May 20th - Qualcomm Global 5G Summit, 2021, Snapdragon 778 5G and More; realme announces Exclusive SD 778 Smartphone
Qualcomm announced its new Snapdragon 778G 5G Mobile Platform. The Snapdragon 778G brings new features in performance, camera, AI, connectivity and gaming. The new platform supports features such as Triple ISP, Staggered HDR image sensors, Variable Rate Shading, Qualcomm Game Quick Touch and 5G capabilities.
Along with this, Qualcomm also announced the world's first 10 Gigabit 5G M.2 reference designs in Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 and X62.
Also, Qualcomm further introduced the X65 modem for 5G. The software-upgradeable architecture allows future-proofing of solutions powered by the Snapdragon X65 which supports and enables acceleration of 5G expansion, while enhancing coverage, power efficiency and performance for users.
Just hours after SD 778 was announced, realme said that it will be one of the first to launch a phone based on the latest Snapdragon 778G 5G. The phone maker has codenamed the device Quicksilver for the time being.
May 21st - Jio Strengthens Network in Karnataka; Airtel CEO Warns of Cyber Fraud
Reliance Jio announced that it will deploy the spectrum across 3 bands it acquired in Karnataka in the March 4G Spectrum Auction. This move doubles the total usable frequency in 850 MHz. Furthermore, it also increases the available frequency by a quarter in the 2300 MHz band.