Larsen & Toubro Infotech, IIT Madras collaborate for 5G research 

Larsen and Toubro Infotech has partnered with IIT Madras for collaborative research in the field of 5G. Through this partnership, LTI and IIT Madras will innovate in the 5G space and enable 5G frameworks validation. Both LTI and IIT Madras will promote research towards development of a low-cost and low-frequency 5G network setup for better connectivity in rural areas. 

The objective of this partnership is to create a 5G base station and a single-box solution to enable better connectivity in rural areas. LTI will provide its expertise on the research capabilities and offer relevant infrastructure to support this initiative. 

“5G promises to facilitate the next level of innovation to build a smarter society, but it is important to ensure that these benefits reach every part of our country. LTI’s partnership with IIT Madras reflects our commitment to leverage this technology to connect people from remote parts of India in a better way,” said Nachiket Deshpande, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Board Member, LTI. 

The project is part of LTI’s CSR programme and is reflective of its commitment towards promoting research and innovation. It is also in line with the government’s ‘Make-in-India’ initiative. 

IIT Madras Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations) Prof Mahesh Panchagnula said,  “IITM's 5G testbed project is an effort to encourage Indian startups and the industry to take an early lead in 5G. The goal of the project is to build a test bed that closely resembles a realworld 5G deployment.”

Dr Radha Krishna Ganti, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras and Principal Investigator for this CSR project said that the 5G technology has immense potential and could prove to be the best option to bridge the digital divide in India. “For evolved urban areas, it will help advance and enhance the benefits of digital technologies over a faster connectivity network,” he said. 

LTI will work with IIT Madras to build and validate use cases leveraging the 5G test bed for application in domains like smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, smart cities and media. 

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