Most Snapdragon 5G platforms already available to Indian OEMs: Qualcomm

Chip firm Qualcomm has said that it is selling most of its Snap­dragon 5G platforms with key features like the standalone (SA) mode to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India. It expects most of the upcoming 5G phones in the market would be enabled to run on SA networks.

It is also working with OEMs to provide software upgrades to existing 5G phones powered by their chips to make them SA enabled. Currently, most 5G phones (over 140 of them) in the country are enabled for non-standalone (NSA) mode.

The move is significant in the backdrop of concerns that there aren’t enough devices in India that will work on the SA platform. Airtel, in its analysts’ call, said one of the advantages of NSA networks is that it is one of the most widely developed ecosystems in the world and all devices work on it.

Its rival Reliance Jio is believed to have taken a call to take the SA route (where both the core and the radio network are on 5G) after it bought the 700 Mhz band, which is crucial for 5G roll-out globally.

Says Rajen Vagadia, presi­dent of Qualcomm India and SAARC: “Key features like standalone modes, Voice over New Radio and carrier aggre­gation that are relevant to the Indian market are supported on a majority of the Snap­dra­gon 5G platforms. OEMs can enable these features on all new 5G phones to be launched in the market and we expect that the upcoming phones will come with SA support.”

To the uninitiated, in standalone architecture both the radio and core that control the network are on a 5G platform enabling many more use cases based on low latency — robotics, high-precision machine-to-machine functions, slicing of spectrum for enterprises, autonomous cars and remote robotic surgery among others.