Deeptech startup Astrome has signed a contract
with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to trial connectivity in 15 villages across the country on a pilot basis using GigaMesh – a network solution that can wirelessly provide fibre like backhaul capacity and pave the way for 5G.

The Bengaluru-based startup and the telecom department plan to scale their pilot to more rural parts of India based on the outcome of this trial, as per a Ministry of Science and technology statement.

GigaMesh, developed by Astrome, is a multibeam E-band Radio that is able to communicate from one tower to multiple towers simultaneously while delivering multi-gigabyte per second throughput to each of these towers.

Astrome has been working to expedite theimplementation of 5G and rural telecommunications infrastructure through its millimeter-wave E-band (71-76GHz and 81-86GHz) radios and satellite communication solutions.

“The Bengaluru-based startup and the telecom department plan to scale their pilot to more rural parts of India based on the outcome of this trial, as per a Ministry of Science and technology statement

A single GigaMesh device is said to provide up to forty links with more than 2 Gbps capacity, communicating up to a range of ten kilometres. “This flexibility in range makes it suitable for both decongesting the dense urban networks and extending rural coverage”, the statement added.

Major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Ericsson, Siklu, Huawei, and NEC have developed E-band products.