Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country’s first 5G testbed on Tuesday to enable startups and industry players to test and validate their products locally and reduce reliance on foreign facilities. The cost of setting up a testbed is around Rs 2.2 crore.

Addressing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Silver Jubilee, PM said the 5G testbed is an important step toward self-reliance for critical and modern technologies. “I invite young friends, researchers and companies to use the test facility to make 5G technology,” Modi said.

The 5G testbed was developed as a multi-agency collaborative project by eight agencies led by IIT Madras. In the absence of 5G testbeds, startups and other industry players need to go abroad to test and validate their products for installation in 5G networks.

Other institutions involved in the project include IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) and the Center of Excellence for Wireless Technologies (CEWiT). Test bench facilities will be available at five different locations.