Army Inducts First Indigenous 4G Mobile Base Station with Chip-Based Technology

The majority of the base stations deployed in India are not made in India. This is the first time an Indian system running on an Indian chip for complex communication technology has been inducted into the army. Using indigenous chips gives a high degree of control on the security of the system in its operation,” Mr. Khasnis said.

He said the Indian Army had posted a bid on GeM (Government e-Marketplace) for the supply of 4G LTE NIB (Network In a Box) solution last year. Weighing just 7 kgs, Sahyadri Network In a Box (NIB) systems provide high-quality secure wireless communication for audio, video and data applications,” Mr. Khasnis said. He said the Sahyadri NIB is capable of working in both standalone and cellular modes and capable of seamless inter-operation with legacy analogue and IP telephony systems.

The majority of the base stations deployed in India are not made in India. Even the few that are made in India do not have indigenous chips inside, which is the most strategic and important component of modern electronic devices and equipment. “We have supplied 20 units to the army.

The Army takes its own call on when and where to deploy base station. Since they are light and mobile units, it gives them the flexibility to change the location as per their requirement,” he added. At present, there is no fabrication facility in India for modern semiconductor chips.

Mr. Khasnis said the Indian base station market is expected to be about USD 24 billion by 2029. There are sizeable market volumes available in India and worldwide. Modernisation targets of different sectors like defence, railways etc.

are excellent opportunities for indigenous solutions,” he said. Mr. Khasnis said that the CNPN (Captive Network-Private Network) 4G/5G market worldwide is expected to cross USD 30 billion by 2030, which will enable large possibilities for the local chip-based base stations, thereby providing economies of scale. *(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.

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