The centre for Department of Telematics (C-DOT) has been established as an autonomous premiere research body to boost the telecom sector under the aegis of the Department of Telecommunications. It was established in 1984. India’s technocrat Sam Pitroda was roped in. The telecom sector expanded and the credit goes to C-DOT. The analogue system was replaced by digital exchanges. The PCO booths were seen ubiquitously all over the country. There were successive waves of 2G, 3G and 4G rollouts.

C-DOT’s latest achievement is the design of 5G standalone core by October, 2023. C-DOT’s 4G and 5G NSA cores are fully hardware independent. These can be adapted to the PCs and servers. It has emerged as an apex national research institution.

C-DOT is set to launch its first domestically developed 5G radio and antennas, along with 5G Radio Access Network (RAN). VVDN Technologies and IIT, Hyderabad are collaborating with C-DOT for the RAN.