VoicenData Weekly Wrap-Up - Satcom, 5G, PLI Scheme & Reliance AGM 2021 Buzz

Last week was yet another week full of activity for the telecom sector, as per. There were a few key moments in this week that are sure to leave a mark in their niches in the coming months and years. Also, India saw a few important developments happen during the week that will shape its 5G rollout and telecom PLI scheme.

Without further ado, here is the wrap-up of everything that happened last week.

India Officially Starts Accepting Applications for PLI Scheme to Manufacture Telecom Infra

The stress on becoming Atmanirbhar in telecom has only seen itself go up in the recent years. In many fields across the board, India is working to reduce its trade deficit. Telecom is no exception to that, with a Production-Linked Incentive scheme to boost manufacturing to telecom infrastructure in the country. The scheme was announced in February this year. Back then, almost everyone in the industry lauded this as a brilliant move.

Last Thursday, that is, on 3rd June, the telecom department listed out the guidelines for the scheme. It further announced that it will start accepting applications for the same starting next day. For more details, refer to this page.

Soon after the announcement, telecom infra vendors like Nokia and HFCL expressed their interest in the same. Nokia India even retweeted the announcement from their handle. The government is estimating a production of around ₹2.4 Lakh Crores if the scheme funds are fully used up. Additionally, the government believes that it will generate “huge direct and indirect employment”, while also bring in investment of almost ₹ 3,000 crore.

The guidelines include government support for 5 years and incentive tiers for international companies, MSMEs and domestic companies.

Reliance AGM 2021 - Is 5G Coming Soon?

It's that time of the year again. Reliance announced on Wednesday that it will livestream its AGM on JioMeet and YouTube, on 24th June, 2 PM onwards.

Reliance Jio, RIL's telecom arm, has been busy testing 5G in the country, partnering with Qualcomm. It looks highly likely that the telco might become the first to at least announce their plans for 5G on the 24th.

What's more, Google and Jio have been working on an affordable 5G smartphone for the best part of last year. The companies originally planned to launch the phone in December last year. However, now, it looks like that Reliance might open pre-booking on 24th, with actual sales starting sometime around Diwali.

On the other hand, Reliance's JioBook will also see its debut on 24th, most likely. It is a good time to be associated with Reliance, it seems.

Satcom Boom Right on the Horizon

SpaceX has now launched upwards of 1600 Starlink satellites, and OneWeb has put in 200+ satellites in orbit at the time of writing this. Satcom is now fast becoming the latest booming market around, with billionaires and nations alike pouring in billions to make it happen.

Among all this, last week, Germany announced that will help rural citizens get better access to the internet by supporting satcom. Handelsblatt, a daily, reported that the government will subsidize the purchase of Starlink dishes and similar service providers with grants. These grants will go to individual households and will be worth €500 ($611).

Then, on the same day, multiple reports suggested that Amazon is finally ready to start the process to bring its Project Kuiper satcom services to India. The e-commerce giant is investing over $10 billion in the project. Under Project Kuiper, the company aims to build a constellation of 3,236 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

5G Updates from the Week

5G Trials to include Rural Areas as Well

Last week, DoT asked the telcos conducting 5G Trials in India to conduct the same in rural areas as well. What's more, MTNL can soon join the party once they submit the required trial fee and receive test spectrum from DoT.

As of now, the testing parties have received spectrum in a wide range, from 700 MHz to mmWave. The government wants them to develop use cases for every conceivable 5G spectrum band. However, the telcos still remain unsure whether they will get to buy the test spectrum or not.

Juhi Chawla Files a Case in Delhi HC against 5G

In what was a pretty bizarre chain of events, last Monday, Bollywood Actress Juhi Chawla moved the Delhi HC, seeking a stay on 5G rollout in the country. As reported by Bar and Bench, in her suit, Chawla along with Veeresh Malik and Teena Vachani, argued that 5G should not roll out until and unless 5G technology is “certified safe”.

However, by the end of the week, not only was her petition thrown out by the Delhi HC, but all three petitioners were slapped with a ₹20 Lakh fine.

An all around weird chain of events to be sure. There appears no incentive for this, yet, here we are.

Reliance Jio hard at work building a local 5G Core

On Wednesday, RIL said that Jio Platforms has collaborated with Qualcomm to make critical 5G gear in India. In its annual report, RIL said, “India is at the forefront of the global digital revolution. Jio is accelerating the rollout of digital platforms and indigenously developed next-generation 5G stack, making it affordable and available everywhere”. Further, it also said in the same report that the telco has developed the full 5G stack in India. “The 5G RAN Platform has crossed the 1 Gbps milestone on the Jio 5G core network and smartphones,” the report said.

realme Organize Global 5G Summit

On Wednesday, realme organized a global 5G summit with the goal of making the new network accessible for all. The phonemaker partnered with GSMA Intelligence, Counterpoint Research and Qualcomm. On the event, keynote speakers from all the companies discussed how fast 5G was being adopted across the world. Spoiler alert - much faster than 4G, it seems.