Reliance thinks of using 5G standalone architecture. Here a network has to be built with a new 5G core and new radios which work on 5G bands.

In a non-standalone network, the telcos can continue to use the core of the 4G LTE network for 5G.

Currently only China, South Korea and Singapore have standalone 5G. Many other countries may opt for the technology in the next two years.

5G standalone has several advantages. It has low latency, and hence it can power machine-to-machine operations and enable automation. This could be the backbone of smart cities.

There is growing virtualisation of the 5G core. It means less hardware components, which brings down the costs.

This network can power autonomous vehicles and make remote robotic surgeries possible. It can offer private cloud to enterprise customers.

5G network would have more revenue streams — from customers as usual, from new services to enterprise customers, from private cloud and private networks offered to enterprise customers.

Jio has already designed the new radios. It could make them in-house or source them from outside. It has developed 5G core software, and will only need to buy some hardware,