Sterlite Tech has launched 5G ready network solution named FlashFWD at India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017 in Delhi, India.

Consultancy company Deloitte today said Indian telecom operators are expected to invest around $70 billion for their 5G networks. Telecom operators are keen to invest in 5G that’s expected to generate about 8 times more data traffic than 4G connections.

Though the nation-wide launch of 5G is not expected by 2020, some reports suggest that 15 percent of global population will have 5G subscriptions by 2021-22.

Sterlite Tech said its 5G ready network solution FlashFWD has the highest fibre density in the most compact cable package possible.
Shyam Mardikar, CTO of Mobile Networks, Airtel, said the new FlashFWD 5G solution features multi-tube single jacket ribbon optical fibre cable that combines robust performance for duct or direct buried installations, with productivity of high-count mass fusion splicing.

“5G-readiness in India is as much about radio as about the network backhaul. As long as we are doing everything right to get the network to that level, we will be able to achieve big 5G success,” Shyam Mardikar said.

Incidentally, Bharti Airtel has become the first Indian telecom operator to launch Massive MIMO, a pre-5G technology in Bengaluru and Kolkata in association with Huawei and ZTE.
“These advanced technologies are touching everyday lives of people across cities and villages by providing more accessible healthcare, financial inclusion, education, utilities, smart agriculture and other critical services,” said Anand Agarwal, CEO of Sterlite Tech.

Telecom operators can use the indigenously developed 5G Ready FlashFWD solution to enable data intensive low-latency solutions such as Cloud computing, augmented reality, driverless cars, IoT and much more.

Sterlite Tech is offering the solution in two variants: FlashFWD 864F ribbon cable with six tubes and FlashFWD1152F ribbon cable with eight tubes.

“Many of our customers across North America, Middle East and India were asking for high fibre counts to transition their network from 3G/4G to 5G. Given the need for extremely high bandwidth and low latency, our technology is disruptive as it moves from loose tube to higher fibre count ribbon cable for 5G networks,” said Badri Gomatam, CTO of Sterlite Tech.