Telecommunication Engineering Centre and IIIT Naya Raipur Partner to Advance India’s Next-Generation Telecom Standards
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Institutions: Department of Telecommunications | Ministry of Communications
On 04 October 2025, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) - the technical arm of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) - signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIIT Naya Raipur, aiming to jointly pursue research, innovation, and standardization in next-generation telecom technologies.
Key areas of collaboration include Open RAN and network disaggregation, cognitive radio & spectrum sharing, 5G/6G/IoT frameworks, joint contributions to ITU-T / national working groups, and development of India-specific test frameworks and interoperability standards.
The partnership is intended to strengthen India’s voice in global telecom standards and support “Atmanirbhar Bharat” by encouraging indigenous design, testing, and standardisation capabilities.
This MoU reflects India’s push to localize telecom innovation and reduce dependence on foreign protocols or equipment. Embedding academic institutions in standard-setting bodies helps amplify domestic R&D, and may tilt India toward a stronger position in global forums at a time when 6G, IoT, and Open RAN are critical battlegrounds.
What is TEC? → The Telecommunication Engineering Centre is a technical body under the DoT responsible for setting technical standards, specifications, and test requirements for telecom equipment and networks in India. It plays a key role in ensuring interoperability and quality in telecom infrastructure.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How can DoT and TEC ensure that this academic-industry partnership leads to tangible standardized outputs (in hardware, software, test suites) rather than only research reports, and how will these standards be adopted in regulatory and procurement processes?
Follow the full news here: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2174816