The Ministry of Railways and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) signed a memorandum of understanding ((MoU) to establish the India 5G testbed at the Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) in Secunderabad; the facility would be dedicated to the testing and development of 5G use cases for Indian Railways.
The MoU between IRISET and IIT-Madras aims to accelerate the indigenisation efforts of Indian Railways in the field of communications and create a testing facility for Indian Railways. The Indian Railways aims to leverage the potential of 5G technology to enhance its operational efficiency, passenger experience and overall safety. By simulating real-world scenarios, researchers and industry experts will explore innovative solutions to modernise various aspects of Railway communication and services.
About the 5G testbed
The indigenous 5G solution and testbed has been developed jointly by IIT-Kanpur; Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) under MeitY; IIT-Bombay; Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT), a society of IIT-Madras; and IIT-Madras, as part of the indigenous 5G testbed project funded by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to a consortium of eight institutes.
The establishment of the India 5G testbed represents an important step in harnessing the potential of 5G technology for the railway industry. It will enable Indian Railways to explore and implement innovative solutions that can transform various aspects of railway communication and services.