India Pioneers Open-Source 5G & 6G Platform, Ushering a New Era in Telecom Innovation

India has launched a major initiative to develop a production-grade open-source platform for 5G, 5G Advanced (5G-A), and 6G networks.

This effort is backed by seed funding from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) and is led by IISc Bengaluru's Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID), IIT Delhi's Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

The initiative is a unique approach compared to other countries, which have largely relied on proprietary solutions from major telecom vendors.

India is focusing on an open-source mobile network stack, fostering indigenous innovation and reducing reliance on proprietary solutions.

The initiative aims to create a fully open-source mobile network stack aligned with global standards such as 3GPP and Open RAN (O-RAN).

The project builds on the Indian Open-Source Platform for End-to-End 5G Network (IOS-5GN) and lays the foundation for the Indian Open-Source Platform for Mobile Communication Networks (IOS-MCN), a consortium aimed at fostering indigenous innovation across academia, industry, and startups.

A key milestone was achieved on January 31, 2025, when the consortium released IOS-MCN Agartala v0.1.0, which includes a 5G CORE, Open RAN-compliant radio access network software, and a service orchestration framework 12.

The system was successfully tested using Made-in-India ORAN-compliant radio units developed by VVDN and Lekha Wireless, achieving downlink speeds of 600-700 Mbps and latency under 10 milliseconds on commercial mobile devices.

This initiative is a significant step toward self-reliance in next-generation communication technologies, reducing reliance on proprietary solutions and fostering open, scalable, and resilient mobile communication networks.

With 961,000 base stations and 356 cities covered, China leads 5G innovation The country is heavily investing in 6G research.

India's open-source approach is distinct from the vendor-driven models seen in China, the US, and South Korea. While other nations focus on rapid deployment, India is prioritizing self-reliance, scalability, and innovation in mobile communication networks.