Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Ericsson have partnered to showcase how 5G connectivity can enable access to healthcare in remote parts of the country.

The 5G trial network set up by Vi on Government allocated 3.5 GHz mid band and 26 GHz mmWave band in Pune, deploys Ericsson Radios and Ericsson Dual Mode Core based on cloud native technology comprising of 5G SA, 5G NSA & LTE packet core functions.

A doctor located in an urban center can use the 5G network to carry out an ultrasound scan on a patient who is in a rural location. This is being trialed by Vi using Ericsson’s 5G infrastructure to showcase the power of 5G to reach healthcare to remote parts of the country.

“Vi has developed a 5G ready network which builds on India’s fastest Vi GIGAnet network verified by Ookla. With our 5G trials now, we are leveraging the power of 5G to provide healthcare access to remote parts of the country,” Jagbir Singh, CTO of Vi, said.

Vi and Ericsson also demonstrated the Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and fixed wireless access (FWA) applications with 5G.

“The flexible Dual Mode Core set by Ericsson with Vi in Pune is helping enterprises leverage the network to deploy use cases like remote video monitoring, Telemedicine, Digital twin, AR/VR etc.,” Amarjeet Singh, Vice President of Ericsson, said.

Ericsson’s 5G Business Compass report estimates the 5G-enabled B2B opportunity for Indian operators, across 10 industries, would be $17 billion USD by 2030. The top industries that are expected to leverage 5G for their digitalization include healthcare, manufacturing, energy and utilities, automotive and public safety.