New Delhi, July 31 (FN Agency) Vodafone Idea (Vi) has demonstrated 5G download speed of 1 Gbps in Bhopal Smart City, a statement from the company said on Saturday. The telecom operator is conducting a trial on use of street furniture for small cells and aerial fibre deployment in Bhopal Smart City, as part of a pilot by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). These pilots are aimed at making cross sectoral infrastructure more accessible for quick roll out of the 5G networks.
Street furniture such as traffic signal pole, street light pole, smart pole, billboard, direction board, road signage, foot over bridge and city bus shelter are being used for testing 5G small cells. To test 5G readiness, TRAI has selected Vi to conduct trials at Bhopal Smart City as the main smart city locations in the country. The pilot involved coordination, administrative, permissions, authorisation to use and other support from various entities like Madhya Pradesh State Government, Bhopal Municipal corporation, District Collector office, Bhopal Smart City, Bhopal Police, Bhopal City link Ltd (Bus city service), DISCOM, Advertising agency and other state Government bodies.
The learnings of the project will in-turn be used for 5G deployment in other Smart Cities in the country. In this pilot, Vi has demonstrated 5G download speed of 1Gbps on mobile handset at four locations- New Market, Jyoti Square, Prabhat Petrol Pump and Inter State Bus Terminus. TRAI has been testing 5G readiness using small cell and aerial fiber in different locations across the country. Vi is also conducting trials on use of street furniture for Small Cells and Aerial Fibre deployment at Bengaluru Metro Rail, New Delhi International Airport, Deendayal Port – Kandla in Gujarat.
Vi has demonstrated a range of 5G-based technology solutions and use cases as part of its 5G trials on government allocated trial spectrum in Pune, Maharashtra and Gandhinagar, Gujarat earlier. Small cells are network equipment being deployed by Vi to enhance 4G network coverage and capacity. Trials are being conducted to test the equipment for 5G network deployments in the future. It uses higher frequencies’ spectrum to provide ultra-high broadband speed and is placed closer to the user to provide quick responses to the user’s request, the statement said.