Reliance Jio and Sanmina are set to manufacture radio units that can be used to deploy 5G with the 700 MHz and 3.3 GHz spectrum bands

Indian mobile operator Reliance Jio aims to incorporate a higher proportion of locally developed radio units in its ongoing 5G rollout, local newspaper The Economic Times reported.

According to the report, Reliance Jio and Sanmina are set to manufacture radio units that used to deploy 5G via the 700 MHz and 3.3 GHz spectrum bands.

The report also noted that Jio is the only telco in the country using its own 5G core technology. Radio and transport networks are being deployed by vendors including Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung Electronics.

Last month, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), and U.S.-based integrated manufacturing solutions company Sanmina had completed a previously announced joint venture transaction.

The joint venture will create a manufacturing facility in Chennai that will serve as an incubation center to support the product development and hardware start-up ecosystem in India.

The Indian government recently said that locally designed and developed 5G gear, including core and radio network components, could be commercially available by March 2023.

Jio is currently adding around 2,500 sites per week in rolling out its 5G network and in the coming 3-4 months, the number is set to increase to around 5,000 sites. Rival Bharti Airtel is adding 1,200 sites per week for its rollout.

Reliance Jio Infocomm is currently offering the beta trial of its 5G services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Varanasi and Nathdwara, Bengaluru and Hyderebad. The carrier’s 5G service is offered through 5G Standalone architecture and through a mix of wireless spectrum across the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. It uses carrier aggregation that combines these 5G frequencies.

Jio said it is rolling out its “True-5G” beta services in a phased manner and is seeking customer feedback about its new 5G offering. The company said its 5G users are experiencing speeds between 500 Mbps-1 Gbps.

Last month, rival operator Airtel announced the launch of 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi.

Bharti Airtel is chiefly using equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to provide 5G services. The Indian operator secured a total of 19,800 megahertz of spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands in a recent auction carried out by the Indian government.

Bharti Airtel had recently announced that it has already reached 1 million unique 5G subscribers in less than 30 days since it had commercially launched this technology in certain areas of the country.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea is currently in talks with several venders for the supply of 5G gear. The telco is also seeking to obtain financial resoirces for the launch of its 5G network.