IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur and SAMEER have been working to develop a 5G RAN sub-system at a local 5G testbed

A 5G radio access network (RAN) technology developed by an Indian multi-institutional team has been licensed to local firm Tejas Networks, part of the Tata Group company, for a total of INR120 million ($1.44 million), local press reported.

According to the report, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur and the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) have been working to develop a 5G RAN sub-system at a 5G testbed.

The three institutions are now jointly licensing the 5G RAN technology to Tejas Networks, which will seek to leverage the technology for further advancements and commercial applications.

Under the terms of the deal, Tejas will be paying a transfer of technology, non-exclusive license fee in multiple installments based on a number of technical milestones.

Veezhinathan Kamakoti, director at IIT Madras, said: “I am very pleased that Tejas is planning to adopt this 5G RAN technology developed indigenously by a multi-institutional team of researchers.”

“This is an outstanding example of how translational research must happen in an inter-institutional, interdisciplinary manner. This is a great example of how research should translatea product and then get deployed. I hope a billion users of our country will benefit from this technology,” he said.

“IIT Kanpur has been a pioneer in communication research in India. Our faculty has played a pivotal role in the development of this state-of-the-art indigenous 5G testbed, specifically by developing the baseband unit of the 5G new radio base station at the institute. As we know, the 5G testbed has been developed as part of a multi-institute collaborative project. This collaborative effort not only complements India’s stride in groundbreaking transformative innovation but also opens up tremendous growth prospects for India’s rapidly evolving telecommunications industry,” said Subramaniam Ganesh, director at IIT Kanpur.

According to the reports, the 5G testbed was developed indigenously through a collaborative project involving eight institutes and funded by the Indian Government.

The 5G testbed was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in May 2022, and has since been used by industry and academia for testing new 5G products and use cases.

Kumar Sivarajan, chief technology officer and co-founder at Tejas, said: “We are delighted to conclude a comprehensive 5G RAN technology licensing agreement with IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, and SAMEER. This sets a new benchmark in industry-academia collaboration in India’s high-technology sector. We look forward to translating these cutting-edge innovations and integrating themindustry-leading products and solutions for India and the world.”

Tejas Networks had previously executed a master contract for the supply, support and annual maintenance services of its RAN equipment for state-run telco BSNL, which aims to deploy a nationwide 4G/5G network in India. As a part of this contract, Tejas Networks received a purchasefrom Tata Consultancy Systems for $900 million to supply its latest 4G/5G RAN equipment for approximately 100,000 sites, which will be executed during 2023 and 2024, according to previous reports.