A billion cell customers, sluggish fibre rollout, and India’s mmWave leap, that’s precisely how Analog Gadgets and its telecom companions are reworking high-speed broadband by next-gen wi-fi connectivity.
India’s cell consumer base has crossed a billion, and most of us depend on cell knowledge for streaming and social media. However in the case of do business from home, on-line lessons, or telemedicine, everyone knows how irritating unstable web speeds could be. These purposes want broadband speeds above 100 Mbps, one thing fibre-to-home (FTTH) networks can simply ship. The issue is, organising fibre in cities has been painfully sluggish. Permissions from municipalities, restrictions from housing societies, and the mess of overhead wires make set up each pricey and time-consuming.
Just lately, the Authorities of India has opened up the FR2 band (26–27GHz), a high-frequency vary that may transmit massive quantities of knowledge wirelessly. As an alternative of operating fibre cables to each dwelling, telecom firms can now beam knowledge to small rooftop receivers on condo buildings. These receivers then ship the sign by Ethernet or Wi-Fi routers, giving us speeds between 100 and 300 Mbps with out digging roads or ready for native approvals.
On the ninth India Cell Congress (IMC 2025), Analog Gadgets India (ADI) hosted a media roundtable to debate these new broadband potentialities. It was an excellent alternative to listen to instantly from Vivek Tyagi, the Managing Director of ADI, and perceive how the corporate is supporting this shift towards wi-fi broadband.
What stood out for me was the dialogue on how mmWave broadband is already shaping the following section of India’s connectivity. We have now seen BSNL launch a 4G community constructed fully on Indian know-how, and now firms like ‘Jio AirFiber’ and ‘Airtel Xstream AirFiber’ are taking it additional utilizing mmWave.
Vivek stated, “We help these rollouts with RF 3D frequency chips and reference designs that make the setup course of a lot sooner.” Usually, wired broadband installations can take days, however with this wi-fi strategy, it could possibly occur inside hours. For shoppers like us, meaning faster connections. For telecom firms, it means sooner income era and higher broadband adoption throughout India.
Extending fibre the place wanted
“Millimetre wave broadband shouldn’t be right here to switch optical fibre. It’s meant to enrich it by extending high-speed protection the place laying fibre is tough,” added Vivek. Early deployments use unlicensed spectrum for moderate-density areas, and future rollouts will transfer to licensed bands for larger capability and reliability. Fibre stays the spine, and mmWave helps us get that last-mile connection sooner.
“We’re engaged on 6G-ready mmWave RF modules that may plug into completely different motherboards. As soon as we validate them, we are going to present them to telecom operators and world tools makers. Being current in Taiwan additionally permits us to associate with main OEMs, supporting each native and worldwide markets,” disclosed Vivek.
The fee and infrastructure benefits are clear. Current telecom towers can host mmWave modules with minimal adjustments, including yet another field to ship high-speed connectivity. In comparison with extending fibre to each dwelling, that is extra economical and makes large-scale deployment attainable. Vivek stated, “City clusters like Noida, Gurugram, and Bengaluru are appropriate for mmWave, whereas rural areas will proceed to depend on optical fibre.”
India’s mmWave leap
When somebody requested in regards to the materials used, Vivek stated, “Materials alternative issues in mmWave methods. Gallium Nitride (GaN) is used for high-power RF purposes above 20 watts. For lower-power designs, we handle your complete RF sign chain internally, avoiding exterior GaN parts. This offers extra management over design, value, and manufacturing.”
We additionally realized that India’s telecom manufacturing is increasing. Collaborations between chip designers, OEMs, and system integrators allow native producers like VBT and Bajaj Community to make use of in-house RF chipsets to construct full tools methods. Indian firms can act as design producers or telecom distributors, strengthening the home ecosystem beneath the Make-in-India initiative.
Explaining using the mmWave know-how, Vivek added, “This know-how isn’t just for broadband. It helps industrial IoT in sectors like cement, energy, and chemical substances, the place real-time knowledge is required for automation. Its low latency and excessive velocity allow sensible manufacturing and linked infrastructure. The RF modules embody programmable components like FPGAs for integration with motherboards.”
Tutorial establishments like IIT Madras and IIT Hyderabad are already appearing as testbeds for growing and validating high-frequency RF applied sciences. We additionally heard that discussions are underway to discover the 60 GHz spectrum, which may help future 6G purposes. Current RF parts, such because the Apollo product line working as much as 20 GHz, could be prolonged to larger frequencies as requirements evolve.
As India strikes towards sensible cities, mmWave broadband is anticipated to change into an important layer of connectivity. As soon as telecom operators validate the know-how, will probably be built-in by partnerships with tools distributors and system integrators engaged on sensible metropolis infrastructure. With authorities help, analysis collaborations, and rising broadband demand, we are able to see India’s telecom ecosystem gearing up for the following period of connectivity. Millimetre wave (mmWave) know-how may change into a cornerstone for delivering quick, scalable, and domestically developed broadband options, serving to strengthen India’s place within the world telecom panorama.
