Rolling out 5G FWA across India with Reliance Jio: Qualcomm CEO

New Delhi, May 4

Qualcomm is rolling out 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) in collaboration with Reliance Jio to serve millions of residents in India, the chip-maker's President and CEO Cristiano Amon has said, as the country doubles down on providing 5G services to all by the end of the year.

With the roll-out of 5G in India, the global chip-maker had bolstered its efforts with Reliance Jio to help it fast connect 100 million homes through its 5G FWA, including the millimetre wave (mmWave).

In its second fiscal-quarter earnings call after delivering revenues of $9.3 billion, which was above the midpoint of Qualcomm guidance, Amon said that in the Edge Networking IoT, "we're very pleased to share that we're now collaborating with Reliance Jio on rolling out 5G FWA across India, servicing millions of residents".

Qualcomm is working very closely with Reliance Jio to provide its chipset platforms for the 5G fixed wireless access and the Open RAN 5G network in the country.

The chip-maker is working with Jio on various components of 5G innovation as its roll-out takes concrete shape.

Reliance Jio is building the 5G network indigenously, including the core and the 5G radios.

Both the companies in 2022 achieved over a 1 Gbps milestone on the Jio 5GNR solution, using Qualcomm's 5G RAN platforms.

In August last year, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani announced the collaboration between Jio Platforms and Qualcomm for local manufacturing of critical equipment to boost the 5G ecosystem in the country.

As per Reliance Jio's latest quarterly results, its 5G rollout has reached more than 2,300 cities and towns in the country.

Amon had said that with Reliance Jio, "we're committed to developing the digital infrastructure that enables the success of citizens and businesses, and achieves the New India".

Meanwhile, the company's chipset business delivered revenues of $7.9 billion in Q2 2023, near the high end of its guidance range.