One of India’s big three telecommunications operators, Vodafone Idea (aka Vi), and the smart world and communication business of leading engineering and construction conglomerate Larsen & Toubro have partnered for a pilot project to test 5G-based smart city solutions.
The companies will collaborate to test and validate 5G use cases built on IoT and video AI technologies leveraging L&T’s Smart City platform (called Fusion), addressing the challenges of urbanisation, safety and security and offering smart solutions to citizens. The pilot will be conducted in Pune, the second-largest city in the state of Maharashtra.
The partnership between Vi and Larsen & Toubro aims to trial several 5G-based use cases that cover services such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (uRLLC) and multi-access edge computing (MEC). It will help to analyse the performance requirements of smart city applications and business models in 5G, and design and implement 5G-based smart and safe city applications. It will also use data analytics tools to visualise and analyse the trial results.
Vi has been allocated 26GHz and 3.5GHz spectrum in the mmWave band by India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for its 5G network trials and use cases. Vi says it has also achieved peak download speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps in a 3.5Ghz band 5G trial network with its OEM partners.
As India’s Economic Times points out, other major operators have also been busy with 5G technology. Bharti Airtel has recently rolled out India’s first 5G rural trial in partnership with Ericsson. It has also showcased 5G cloud gaming.
Meanwhile, Reliance Jio has trialled 5G voice over new radio (VoNR), AI-multimedia chatbots, and immersive high-definition virtual reality meetings.
