Qualcomm to provide chipset platforms for Reliance Jio's 5G equipment

The US chip design company is helping indigenous manufacture of 5G FWA customer equipment, working with mobile device makers to enable stand alone 5G phones and also reduce their prices

Global chip design company, Qualcomm Inc, is working closely with Reliance Jio to provide its chipset platforms for the latter’s tryst with the Open RAN 5G network, say sources. Reliance, which is building the network indigenously, has already built its 5G stacks, including the core and the radios.  

At the annual general meeting of Reliance Industries earlier this week, Mukesh Ambani said that Qualcomm is one more “exciting partnership” and a “valued investor”. The US company has invested $95 million in Jio Platforms, the holding company of Reliance Jio.

Qualcomm has been at the forefront of the effort to develop a 5G ecosystem in the country even before the launch of 5G services.

Leveraging on global trends, it has been offering 5G chipsets and solutions to partners for the manufacture of customer premise equipment which are needed to power the 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) network. For example, it has recently signed an agreement with Indian telecom gear company, HFCL, for the development of 5G millimetre wave FWA customer premise equipment products. 

The products will support multiple spectrum bands and will leverage Qualcomm’s second-generation platform featuring Snapdragon X 65.

In FWA, the last-mile fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband network is replaced by 5G wireless connectivity, making it easier to scale it up. Jio plans to reach 100 million homes in the country through this route. 

Qualcomm has also allayed apprehensions about the fact that the device ecosystem for standalone (SA) 5G, which is what Jio is going for, does not exist in India as yet. Airtel, for instance, has said that they are opting for non-standalone (NSA) 5G, where, although it will use 5G radios, the core of the network will be on a 4G platform.  

The US company has stated that many of the new 5G devices will be starting to support SA 5G. Those who have already bought a 5G phone, which comes with a default support of NSA, will require a software patch to upgrade it to SA. And Qualcomm, which is one of the largest players in the country providing 5G chipsets to device manufacturers, is working with them to enable both. 

Qualcomm is also doing its bit for the effort to bring down the price of 5G phones to below Rs 10,000. Sources say that the company is planning to launch a new chip, which is expected to lower 5G prices (currently at less than Rs 13,000) even more.  

According to sources, the company is also working to bring down the prices of mobile devices which can power millimetre bands. However, the challenge is that their current cost is $20-$40 more than normal 5G phones. But with the Chinese adopting the millimetre band on their 5G phones, the cost of chipsets are expected to come down soon.

Qualcomm’s 5G gambit  

1. Providing technology support and chipsets to domestic companies to make customer premise equipment for 5G FWA.
2. Working with device makers to ensure that 5G phones in the market support standalone 5G. Older 5G phones can be upgraded to standalone with a software upgrade. 
3. Working with mobile device manufacturers to reduce the cost of 5G phones to sub Rs 10,000 levels. Also looking at reducing the price of 5G phones for the millimetre band.