5G technology | Reliance Jio to deploy Pre-5G Massive MIMO technology in select IPL stadiums : Reliance Jio's Mathew Oommen

The size of the band is also important and it is important to leverage a minimum of 100 Mhz in the 3.5GHz band as the starting point.

In September last year, Airtel became the first telecom operator in India to deploy the Massive MIMO technology, which is expected to play a key role in forthcoming 5G networks. Now, the emerging telco Reliance Jio has announced the deployment of the Pre-5G Massive MIMO technology to deliver a high-speed experience to users during this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in Delhi and Mumbai stadiums.

In a statement, Reliance Jio has announced that the stadiums of IPL cricket matches in Mumbai and Delhi will be connected to Pre-5G Massive MIMO tech-enabled hardware. The telecom service provider claims that this tech has the capacity of handling more than five times users in a 30MHz wide-band spectrum in the high user-density events such IPL matches. “This advanced pre-5G deployment will provide true digital experience to stream, share and post the contents at super-fast speeds”, added the company.

As per Jio’s statement, the IPL stadiums in Mumbai and Delhi will be connected with an array of high-speed wireless broadband solutions. These will be ranging from Massive MIMO, 4G eNBs (Evolved Node B), hundreds of Wi-Fi channels, as well as small cells to deliver a seamless high-speed experience to Jio subscribers.

Apart from Jio, Airtel also announced that it will deploy its own Massive MIMO Pre-5G technology across IPL match venues. The operator will deploy the tech in IPL stadiums at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mohali, Indore, Jaipur, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

For the uninitiated, MIMO refers to Multiple Input Multiple Output, and it essentially positions multiple antennas both at the source and destination for simultaneously transmitting and receiving. This allows for better utilisation of spectrum, faster data speeds and seamless connectivity. As for the Massive MIMO technology, it is designed so that a network can have a thousand of antennas and data is transmitted or received by a beamforming technology, which ensures faster data speeds and latency using the same spectrum. Considering that Massive MIMO would be a stepping stone for the future 5G networks, it’s commendable to see that Airtel and Jio are aiming to ensure that India remains at the forefront of the upcoming network technology. 

“5G is a broad set of capabilities that could fundamentally transform the industry, business and individuals’ lives. The size of the band is also important and it is important to leverage a minimum of 100 Mhz in the 3.5GHz band as the starting point,” Jio’s president Mathew Oommen told ET. 

he government is aggressively looking to roll out ultra-high speed data services based on 5G technology, and has recently constituted a 22-member high-level 5G Forum to evaluate and prepare a roadmap and action plan to meet the 2020 timeline.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led pure play fourth-generation (4G) telco, which launched commercial operations in September 2016, has all IP-based 5G-ready network, which it aims to leverage to meet growing bandwidth needs, and eventually move to 5G.

India, according to Oommen, has an opportunity to launch 5G services with 3.5GHz or 3500 MHz frequency band as a fundamental building block with allocation of adequate quantum of airwaves to each operator.

In August this year, telecom watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had sought the industry's views on the valuation methodology of spectrum in the 3300-3400 MHz and 3400-3600 MHz bands, which are used for 5G services.

The regulator plans to put 175 MHz (3425-3600 MHz) radio waves for access services in the upcoming auction while 25 MHz spectrum (3400-3425 MHz) is identified for ISRO’s use in Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

The Jio executive said 5G technology will impact every aspect of ‘smart city’ and facilitate ‘smart humans’ or enhanced intelligence so that Human 2.0 also gets elevated, referring to an all-connected ecosystem that relies upon super-fast data connectivity.