BSNL 4G: ETA Unknown

On 15th August, 2024 BSNL announced that the state-run telco has deployed more than 15000+ 4G BTS across the country under Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative - the image you can see on the left was shared from BSNL's X (formerly Twitter) handle. 

However the target was 20,000 BTS installation. At the same time 'The Hindu Business Line' pointed out that DoT's Tarang website shows BSNL has only 10,000 active 4G BTS. 

BSNL's 4G service has been a long-due. Airtel was first Indian telecom operator to launch 4G services in 2012 in Kolkata. Spectrum and choosing equipment vendor were many of few roadblocks for the PSU. 

New Antibiotics Available in India (November 2024)

Antibiotic resistance is a real threat to mankind. In 2014 WHO declared its first global warning regarding antibiotic resistance is a global threat, and it's already here. The note also warns that overwhelmed use of antibiotics encouraged the evolution of drug resistant bacteria faster than mankind can develop new antibiotics. 

We at India - a third world country or developing country, are commonly bothered with Gram Negative bacteria (GNB) while developed countries are bothered with Gram positive bacteria (GP cocci). 

BSNL 5G May Come Earlier: Indian Start Ups Plan Trials on BSNL's 700MHz Spectrum

Government backed telecom service provider - BSNL, who, though late, is presently busy with 4G roll out across the country, may bring 5G before the expected date. Home grown Tejas and TCS backed BSNL's 4G network core can be upgraded to 5G easily. 

Airtel started 4G in 2012, and Jio brought it in 2016, but both companies launched 5G commercially in 2022. BSNL is just gearing up for 4G roll out in almost middle of 2024. Considering Airtel's entry in 4G space, BSNL 4G is just 12 years late. But recent tariff hike by Airtel, Jio and Vi made the customers to look into BSNL's plans and many are porting to BSNL, despite having only 3G offering in most places. 

Experience with Honor 200 Pro

Huawei backed Honor has launched two new smartphones during mid-July 2024 - Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro (and later Honor 200 Lite). On Amazon.in Honor 200 (8GB/256GB) costs Rs 34,998 (MRP Rs 39,999), 12GB/512GB variant costs Rs 39,998 (MRP Rs 44,999) and Honor 200 Pro costs Rs 57,998 (MRP 59,999) - that makes Honor 200 as mid-premier smartphone while Honor 200 Pro (12GB/512GB) is placed as premier smartphone. 

Official site: https://www.honor.com/in/phones/honor-200-pro/

Honor, the brand is owned by HonorTech Universal in India. 

5G Updates: Reduced Capabilities in 5G or 5G RedCap NR

5G RedCap NR (Concept by Microsoft CoPilot AI)

RedCap is abbreviation for Reduced Capabilities in 4G or 5G. This tech was conceptualized during Release 17 but it is getting traction in the era of 5G-NR (New Radio). 5G RedCap is also known as 5G NR-Light.

If you can remember Uninor or Telenor India has launched 4G over 1800MHz in India - that was narrow band LTE or NB-LTE. RedCap can be utilized in such scenario. 

"5G RedCap is introduced to bridge the gap between 4G and 5G. The minimum 5G requirement earlier was 100 MHz bandwidth and 4 RX antennas. This was not suited for low-cost and battery-involved LPWA IoT applications. 5G RedCap is defined to power low complexity LTE and NR devices with minimum hardware requirement. It functions in the FR2 frequency range of 5G NR making a whole new band of frequencies available for current 4G devices and initiates the migration from 4G to 5G."

EchoStar backed ORCID to Keep Open RAN Alive

In recent times, Open RAN has faced some backlash, but that does not mean the tech is dead nor the enthuathism around the technology. EchoStar Corporation, the company behind Boost Mobile, DISH TV, Hughes believes in Open RAN. The company has identified the flexibility of Open RAN is priceless. Then they brought their own playground for Open RAN players - ORCID. 

HQ at Englewood, Colo. (US), EchoStar Corporation, a global telecom and satellite service provider, has announced the launch of the Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment (ORCID), a state-of-the-art Open RAN (O-RAN) testing and evaluation lab housed at EchoStar's Cheyenne, Wyoming, data center.

Road to 6G: 3GPP's Release 18 or 5G-Advanced

5G Advanced - AI Generated Photo (by Opera Aria) 

By the end of June, 2024 The 3GPP or the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, the organization responsible for developing protocols for mobile telecommunications, has introduced Release 18, also dubbed as 5G-Advanced after long work of 3 years. 

It should be reminded that in 2011 the 3GPP also used a similar 'Advanced' upgrade tactic during 4G-LTE days. LTE-Advanced came with Release 10 of 3GPP. 5G came with the 3GPP Release 15 in 2017. 

Interestingly as soon  as 5G-Advanced is launched, the specifications are already available to 5G equipment vendors. Telecom equipment vendors are happy to get it, as it would open a new road of revenue.