HFCL To Offer 5G-ready Equipment For Enterprises, Railways The company has plans to enter the enterprise market by launching products required in private 5G networks and is also looking forward to 5G-related opportunity in the Indian Railways
By Shrabona Ghosh •
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Telecom equipment manufacturer HFCL will soon enter the enterprise market by launching products required in private 5G networks. Besides entering the enterprise market, HFCL also has plans to participate in the scheme launched by the Indian Railways wherein it will allow indegenous 5G manufacturers to do a proof of concept on its network relating to mobile communications.
"We could possibly enter the enterprise market with our 5G equipment. As the government has allowed enterprises to set up their privat 5G network, some of the equipment that we are designing is useful for that purpose and we would be active in the market," Mahendra Nahata, managing director, HFCL Ltd told Entrepreneur India.
Talking about the opportunities in the Indian Railways he said, "Soon, the Indian Railways would be giving opportunities to the indegenous 5G manufacturers to do a proof of concept (poc) on the railway network. With our 5G-related equipment we would definitely be active in the segment and would provide our equipment for the poc."
The move comes soon after the telecom maker said it is planning to sell Wi-Fi access point routers directly to its consumers. "We have finished the designing of WiFi mesh routers for home applications and we would be launching this product in the next few months, this would mark our first entry into the consumer segment," Nahata added.
In June, the government gave its nod to big tech firms for setting up captive 5G networks. The private 5G is wireless network technology that delivers cellular connectivity for private network use cases, such as private businesses, third-party providers and municipalities. There are 5G-related opportunities in the Indian Railways as well. Reportedly, Indian railways has sent out a mandate to Voice of Indian Communication Technology Enterprises (VoICE), requesting them to set up a 5G-based mobile communication network.
In 2021, giving a boost to 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' mission, the government approved allotment of 5 MHz spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains. The purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.
