March 28, 2018

Non-3GPP people may wonder whether a group called ‘Indian friends of 3GPP’ may need to find more rewarding ways to spend a weekend, but IF3 are not only healthy in body and mind - they are proving to be an effective means to ensure that India delivers on its promise to be a full partner in standards for 5G.

Thanks to IF3 and to the Telecommunications Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) - some eight (8) 3GPP Working Group or Plenary meetings have taken place in India since the beginning of 2017, culminating in last week’s Technical Specification Group (TSG) meetings in Chennai.

During the week, alongside the 3GPP TSG meetings, COAI hosted an executive meeting; where 3GPP delegates met with leaders and experts from various Indian organizations, including the Institute of Technology Madras and the Indian Department of Telecom. The executive meeting was aimed at both non-3GPP experts and the 3GPP delegates, serving as an opportunity to re-cap on the progress of the specifications and on the leading role that Indian industry is now taking in the 5G work.

In all, there were 395 delegates at the March 19 – 22 meetings, from 176 member organizations.

During the week, important progress was made on completing the first Release 15 specifications and on the finalization of functionality for the Standalone 5G NR option, due for its freeze at the next [June 2018] meeting.

Further reading:

at http://tsdsi.org/ :

TSDSI (Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India) is an SDO that aims at developing and promoting India-specific requirements, standardizing solutions for meeting these requirements and contributing these to international standards, contributing to global standardization in the field of telecommunications.

TSDSI is an Organizational Partner in 3GPP

About COAI

(Cellular Operators Association of India)

at https://coai.com/ :

• COAI Vision: Establish India as the global leader of innovative mobile communications infrastructure, products and services achieving a national teledensity of 100%, including broadband.
• Mission Statement: COAI is focused towards the achievement of its vision by engaging with all the stakeholders in: Focusing on customers to ensure they enjoy world class, innovative, secure and affordable mobile communications products and services; Creating a facilitating ecosystem that provides a nurturing policy, regulatory and legal framework for the industry; Monetizing National IP and R&D through active involvement in international standards setting

COAI is a Market Representation Partner in 3GPP

The COAI coordinates a group of Indian 3GPP Member companies, within the IF3 (Indian Friends of 3GPP) to share the cost and effort of hosting Working Group and Plenary level 3GPP meetings - in India.