Trump says discussed importance of 5G tech with India

NEW DELHI: The US and India on Tuesday held discussions on 5G technology and its importance during bilateral talks, President Donald Trump said.

"During our visit we discussed the importance of a secure 5G wireless network and the need for this emerging technology to be a tool for freedom, progress, prosperity, not to do anything with where it could be even conceived as a conduit for suppression and censorship,” Trump said in a press briefing after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

5G is the next generation of wireless technology and will boost data speeds and propel the Internet of Things, with the potential to bring radical changes in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and education.

Trump’s remarks come a day after US Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai’s bilateral meetings with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman R.S. Sharma and telecom secretary Anshu Prakash where the two countries discussed a variety of spectrum issues including 5G.

Pai is in India as part of the delegation from the US.

“We have an existing MoU with TRAI and I met chairman Sharma today and emphasised to them that cooperative relationship has been very fruitful over the last three years and we expect it to be so,” Pai told reporters on Monday.

After his meeting with Sharma, Pai met Prakash at the department of telecommunications.

“We talked about how teledensity is progressing (in the US) what is their fiberisation, which spectrum bands are they using, what they intend to do, what is the auction process, etc,” Prakash said.

“We must work closely and work towards improving spectrum efficiency. We also informed them about LMLC (low mobility large cell) which we have developed for 5G technology, this can also be used by the US, as this has a very large cell area. We are very proactive in useful discussions which we will continue,” Prakash said on Monday.

The US, throughout last year, has pressed its allies not to use China’s gear maker Huwaei’s 5G equipment alleging that it could be used by the latter to spy on other countries. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Australia and Japan have barred Huawei, while Canada and New Zealand are likely to follow suit. Many countries in Europe are yet to take a decision, while Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have welcomed Huawei.

In India, Huawei is teaming up with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for 5G trials.

On 31 December, the Indian government had initiated the process for deploying 5G and met operators and vendors to discuss the broad roadmap for trials expected by March.

The last date to submit applications for the trials was 15 January. The Indian government is assessing the applications and allocate the trial spectrum to its licensees, or telecom service providers.

Last month, DoT approved prices for spectrum auction scheduled to be held by April.

Of the 8,300 megahertz (MHz) of airwaves the government plans to offer, 6,050MHz have been allocated for 5G. The band allocation for 5G of 3,300-3,600MHz has been priced at ₹492 crore per megahertz.