Qualcomm Says Affordable 5G In India Is Possible As Telcos Balk At High Spectrum Price

As the San Diego-based chipmaker Qualcomm has been playing a vital role in developing the Indian 5G market by collaborating with other players — Jio, Flipkart, Amazon — in the Indian market, the company has now decided to roll out 5G services for all the tiers in 2020.

With this, Qualcomm wants to accelerate the transition of India from 4G to 5G network, while igniting the manufacturing unit. In an interview with ET, Qualcomm head Cristiano Amon that the company will ensure that it can deliver 5G services to all the price points and make it more affordable.

Amon also announced that Qualcomm’s $200 Mn global venture capital fund will support startups from India, China and Southeast Asia, who have been working in the 5G domain.

Previously, Qualcomm APAC & India president Jim Cathey expressed his plans to launch 5G services by 2019. Cathey told ET, “It will expand the mobile ecosystem to new industries, and facilitate $12 Tn digital economy and enable industry 4.0.”

Affordable 5G In India?

This month, Qualcomm has also announced its partnership with Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio and ecommerce giants Flipkart and Amazon India to build new use cases for 5G. The company’s senior vice president, Alex Katouzian, has also reportedly said that India could prove to be instrumental in building new use cases for 5G.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm and Swedish telecom company Ericsson, during the India Mobile Congress (IMC) held in October 2019, demonstrate the first 5G video call in Delhi, India, The companies also demoed India’s first 4K video streaming and cloud-based gaming using 5H commercial devices.

Moreover, the company is also investing over $400 Mn to set up its new campus in Hyderabad, which will be Qualcomm’s largest office outside the US. The campus is expected to be 1.7 Mn square feet and can accommodate up to 10K employees.

In November this year, Qualcomm, in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), launched an innovation hub in Hyderabad to find new-age solutions in artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G. With this, the duo wants to seek solutions from global enterprises across various industries and to accelerate their digital growth.

The enterprises, who will join the hub, will get access to TCS’s expertise in digital technologies, whereas Qualcomm will help the companies leverage 5G, AI and edge devices to build solutions.

Recommendation To The Indian Govt

During the interview, Qualcomm’s head Amon also recommended the Indian government to expand its vision when it comes to 5G services for the Indian economy. The company recommended the government to look beyond the use of 5G services for mobile internet or if carriers are ready to invest in 5G technology in India to make it more affordable.

“Democratisation of manufacturing is rapidly moving away from very large (traditional) Asia-based factories to smart factories with 3D printing, connective robots and distributed manufacturing,” Qualcomm head Cristiano Amon, told ET.

Amon suggested that while it may take some time for the tech industry to come out with their 5G services as the spectrum hasn’t been auctioned yet, the government could start private 5G networks for university campuses, enterprises, industries.