Indian telecom operator BSNL signed an agreement with Ciena to assist the company during the 5G trials.
BSNL aims to conduct field trials to roll out 5G by 2020.

BSNL will be using Ciena’s Converged Packet Optical and Packet Networking platforms as well as Blue Planet Intelligent Automation software for the 5G trials.

Ciena and BSNL aims to evaluate front haul, mid haul and backhaul transport-based use cases and scenarios to address latency concerns.

Anupam Shrivastava, chairman and managing director of BSNL, said: “We expect that these trials will show the benefit of 5G which promises to deliver speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second, as much as 30 times faster than 4G.”

Ciena provides Converged Packet Optical and Ethernet solutions to Indian telecom operators. Ciena also supplies equipment to the Indian government to build core transport and switching backbone networks for India’s armed forces.

BSNL has 113 million mobile subscribers and 12.56 million wireline customers. BSNL’s 3G coverage reaches more than 1700 towns and cities. Recently, BSNL has also started 4G mobile services in select locations.