Nokia said on Tuesday that it had started the production of the next generation 5G equipment at its manufacturing site in Sriperumbudur near Chennai.
According to an official statement, the company is now producing the cutting-edge Nokia AirScale massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) solution.
Massive MIMO is a key element of 5G technology that delivers high capacity, especially in densely-populated locations. It brings together antennas at the transmitter and receiver to ensure improved speed and spectrum efficiency, it added.
Nokia said it was the first to manufacture the 5G New Radio (NR) in India, and it is now producing the mMIMO solution.
The equipment is already being exported to many countries in advanced stages of 5G deployment, it added.
“Our Chennai factory has emerged as a benchmark of India’s manufacturing capabilities, bringing an entire range of telecom technology to operators in India and the rest of the world,” Sanjay Malik, senior vice-president and head of India market at Nokia, said.
“From being the first to manufacture 5G NR in India to producing mMIMO, it demonstrates our innovative manufacturing capabilities and our belief in India’s skill and talent to produce the best-in-class equipment. This will enable us to support Indian operators as they prepare to launch 5G,” he added.
Since it was established in 2008, Nokia said it had invested over ₹600 crore in developing a best-in-class manufacturing facility, which is spread over 140,000 sq m.
This factory has manufactured more than 5 million telecom network equipment units over the years. The factory was the first to deploy India’s first ‘real-world’ application of Industry 4.0 including AR/VR, automation and analytics to enhance operational efficiency and productivity, it added.
The Chennai facility is one of the largest telecom manufacturing units in India, catering to both domestic and the international markets and shipping to over 100 countries. The plant is a significant contributor to the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ programme to promote domestic manufacturing, Nokia said.
