7 Colleges In TN To Be Equipped With 5G Labs For Student Training

Chennai, Oct 23 (KNN) About seven engineering colleges and deemed universities is set to get advanced 5G labs across Tamil Nadu to train students on the fifth-generation wireless cellular technology and develop new applications, reported TOI. 

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India is planning to set up 100 5G labs in the country. 

In Tamil Nadu, College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG), Sastra, NIT-Trichy, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), SSN College of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences and SRM Institute Science and Technology (SRMIST) will get these labs.

The labs will be equipped with 5G stand alone network (mid band), 5G sims, dongles, IoT Gateway, router and application server to meet lab needs.

“5G technology will impact the entire telecom ecosystem of hardware and software which are critical to implement futuristic technologies like IoT (Internet of Things) among others,” Anna University vice-chancellor R Velraj said. He further said these labs will enable UG and PG students to do projects using 5G environment.

Many colleges have already introduced an elective course on advanced mobile technologies for electronics and communication engineering students.

“The creation of 5G labs will help to build applications across different sectors like mobility, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare,” said S Vaidhyasubramaniam, vice-chancellor of Sastra.

He said this initiative will help connect with other institutions to create a 5G warehouse for the world. “If this happens, it will be one of the world’s largest crowdsourced 5G applications,” he added.

The government will fund 80% of the capital expenditure for setting up the lab, 100% operational expenditure for the next four years. The institution must spend 20% of the capital expenditure. Further, the institute also needs to provide internet, intranet connectivity and tech-manpower.

DoT also gave the target to the institutions that they should train at least 50 students and 10 faculty members using the lab for testing and project management. At least five startups or MSMEs should be engaged in the lab as well.

(KNN Bureau)